Rural people more hesitant to get shots or follow pandemic guidelines, but finding trusted messengers may help

deBeaumont Foundation chart; for details, see ChangingTheCovidConversation.org.

Rural Americans are less likely to practice coronavirus-prevention measures and less likely to get vaccinated, but education and messaging from trusted people may change their minds, according to recent research.

A Texas A&M University study "found that rural American were less likely than those who lived in urban areas to wear masks and work from home," Liz Carey reports for The Daily Yonder. "While 52 percent of urban residents reported working from home, only 36% of rural residents reported working from home. And while 82% of urban residents reported wearing a mask, only 73% of rural residents said they had worn one.

"Rural residents were also less likely to avoid restaurants, change travel plans and disinfect their homes and work areas. But, the researchers also found that there wasn’t a big difference between rural American and their urban counterparts when it came to social distancing, hand washing and canceling social engagements."

Timothy Callaghan, a health-policy professor who helped lead the study, said political trends and the remoteness of rural communities may explain their differences in behavior, Andy Krauss reports for KBTX-TV in Bryan and College Station, Texas. "People in rural America tend to be a little bit more conservative. The Trump administration and others on the Republican right have at various times downplayed the severity of the virus. . . . Conservative individuals across the country are going to listen to that message and might take things like wearing a mask less seriously."

Callaghan told Krauss that rural residents may also disregard health guidelines because their isolation gives them a false sense of security. "They’re not as concerned as being densely packed together for the possibility of spread to happen," he said.

"The study also found other personal characteristics that correlated with a higher or lesser likelihood of listening to public health guidelines," Krauss reports. "For example, older Americans, those who are more highly educated, and women were more likely to adopt certain behaviors. Those who said they trusted experts or were worried about contracting the virus were also more likely to follow guidelines."

The researchers said that those who don't trust medical experts must receive education and messaging about pandemic health guidelines from a different source, Carey reports.

Mistrust has also led rural residents to be more hesitant about getting the coronavirus vaccine, and finding trusted messengers may be the key to overcoming that disparity as well. "Another study from the de Beaumont Foundation found that one in five rural Americans do not want the vaccine against Covid-19, and that finding those trusted communicators will be key in making sure they do get it," Carey reports. The foundation has published a cheat sheet with communication tips that could improve vaccine acceptance, including language that vaccine-hesitant people may find more convincing.

deBeaumont Foundation chart