Rural communities and families continue to experience health inequalities in comparison to their urban and suburban counterparts. People in poor rural households experience less access to and poorer quality of health care despite national efforts to improve health care quality, access, and affordability. Emerging research indicates that, in comparison to their urban counterparts, rural children are more likely to be overweight or obese and their parents are less likely to report that their children received preventative medical or dental health care.
In response to these ongoing rural health disparities, and with the desire to hear from the voices of rural, low-income women, the Rural Families Speak (RFS) and Rural Families Speak about Health (RFSH) multi-state studies examined the physical and mental health challenges experienced by this population in the policy contexts of welfare and health care reform. For twenty years, the team of researchers has been employing mixed methods research methods grounded in a systems approach to examine low-income rural families’ physical health, mental health, health communication, and access to healthcare.
Early RFS studies highlighted rural disparities as well as the role of mental health in economic self-sufficiency. Subsequently, depression became a topic of great interest to the RFSH research team. Hence, we sought to understand how the complex systemic relationships among social and economic factors, food security status, family relationships, and access to health care impact the health and well-being of low-income, rural families.
In both RFS and RFSH we gathered quantitative information on mothers’ physical and mental health by identifying general health status, health problems, BMI, and depressive symptoms. Mothers were asked to self-rate their general health status, list their presenting health problems, and complete instruments measuring depressive symptoms. We also asked mothers about a focal child’s health, family members’ health insurance coverage, and accessibility of services. During their qualitative interviews, rural mothers elaborated on how their own health challenges, as well as those of other family members, affected their daily lives, their employability, and their ability to access the care needed to maintain a desired level of physical activity and well-being.
This presentation will highlight summary findings regarding low-income rural families’ health. Results reveal that the many stressors associated with being poor and living in a rural location contribute to greater vulnerability to physical and mental health issues such as obesity and, in particular, depressive symptoms. Accessing health care is more challenging, and available resources that can serve in a protective role, such as employment options and transportation, are harder to obtain in rural areas.
Given ongoing challenges to scientific inquiry with this topic, recommendations will be offered as to how research findings can be used to better inform policy makers on the ramifications of their decisions on rural residents’ health.
