A better approach to rural health

Despite decades of government assistance and funding, rural communities continue to face healthcare challenges. These range from a lack of providers and infrastructure to things like inadequate transportation options, broadband coverage issues, healthcare coverage limitations, lower health literacy, and economic insecurity.

Government efforts to address these issues have been significant, but also piecemeal and uncoordinated. The result has been a lack of meaningful change for rural communities.

We believe a new way of thinking about rural health is warranted, one that prioritizes agency coordination as well as community representation. In this article, we discuss this new approach and how it can improve outcomes.