Rural Women’s Health, Research Paper Example

There are many factors that impact women’s health, but some of these issues are more prevalent for women living in urban areas. In particular, the risk of obesity is increased among rural populations, and minority women are most likely to be negatively impacted by this trend (Kenney et al., 2013). This study demonstrated that these individuals are more likely to be sedentary than their urban peers, which contributes to a wealth of obesity related disorders, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is therefore important for rural women to remain active in order to avoid these health detriments.

A related problem experienced by rural women is the quality of health care that they are able to receive in the rural setting. Studies have shown that critical access hospitals have a high quality of care (Baernholdt et al., 2014). However, other studies have demonstrated that there are a great number of quality challenges and concerns in rural communities. A primary concern is the proximity of local hospitals and staffing issues; it is challenging to allow urban residents to receive the help they need during emergencies. Therefore, it is important for these organizations to determine how they can optimize care in order to best meet the needs of their patients.

Studies have also posed that a reasonable solution to enhance women’s health in rural areas is by passing social policies that allow these individuals to have quality health care access (Leipert et al., 2012). While it is evident that there are a variety of health problems that women in rural areas face, it is evident that resources are distributed in rural health care organizations in a manner that actively detriments women’s health. It is necessary for there to be a greater number of professionals available to help women in specialized fields related to their reproduction needs in addition to professionals that understand how women’s health generally differs from men’s health in the population.

References

Baernholdt M, Keim-Malpass J, Hinton ID, Yan G, Bratt M. (2014). A Comparison of Quality of Care in Critical Access Hospitals and Other Rural Hospitals. Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care, Rural and Remote Health, 14(2).

Kenney MK, Wang J, Iannotti R. (2013). Residency and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Weight Status and Lifestyle Behaviors Among US Youth. The Journal of Rural Health, 30(1): 89–100.

Leipert B, Leach B, Thurston W. (2012). Rural Women’s Health. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division.

Stanton M. (2009). Quality Challenges in Rural Communities, 9(1).