Calif. study confirms rural elderly lack access to proper health care and are unhealthier

A study by Humboldt State University's California Center for Rural Policy and UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research confirms that isolated, elderly rural residents lack access to necessary and appropriate health care and tend to be unhealthier than their suburban counterparts.

The researchers, using data of California from UCLA's 2007 California Health Interview Survey, identified obesity, lack of physical activity, and poverty as factors that contribute to unhealthier rural elders and compared heart disease, diabetes, and the number of falls among rural, urban and suburban elders in California.

Melissa Jones, co-author of the study and policy analyst for the Center for Rural Policy, told Jessica Cejnar of The Times Standard in Eureka, "Generally we'd like to use the data to show that this is what's going on in our area and this is what we can do about it. It also proposes solutions. That way we can use it to engage the communities, engage stakeholders and share it with elected officials to really target rural areas." Telehealth, health care delivered through the assistance of technology, is one proposed solution, "but in order to do that, policymakers also need to expand basic broadband capabilities," Jones added. (Read more)