For National Rural Health Day (Nov. 21), we are highlighting the significant health challenges facing rural communities both in Indiana and nationwide. Rural communities across America face a mounting healthcare crisis marked by hospital closures, provider shortages, and delayed emergency response times. These problems compound together to create significantly worse health outcomes for rural areas, with higher rates of mortality for most major causes of death occurring in rural areas as compared to urban zones. These problems are particularly exacerbated by a lack of health workers: Rural areas have significantly fewer healthcare providers per capita, with important gaps in specialists, mental health professionals, and primary care physicians. This provider scarcity creates dangerous barriers to medical care for rural communities.
Check out the infographic below for some alarming facts on rural health disparities both in Indiana and the United States, which show significant healthcare challenges facing rural communities across Indiana and nationwide. These statistics paint a concerning picture of the current state of rural healthcare access and the resulting impact on community health outcomes.
The charts and graphics used in this infographic were originally prepared for a presentation on rural health given earlier this year by Sierra Vaughn, Bowen’s Assistant Director of Data and Research. You can check out a blog post about her presentation and download her powerpoint here.
OTHER BOWEN RESOURCES RELATED TO RURAL HEALTH:
Almost all of our health workforce data and reports touch on rural health communities in one way or another, but these two resources are particularly focused on challenges related to rural communities:
- PLAYBOOK: Mental and behavioral health challenges are particularly acute in rural communities in Indiana and nationwide. Bowen has developed a detailed plan to tackle Indiana’s mental health crisis, called the Playbook for Enhancing Indiana’s Mental and Behavioral Health Workforce. Check out the Playbook project home page here.
- EMS: Emergency Medical Services also pose a critical challenge to rural communities in Indiana and across the country, with significantly slower response times in most rural areas for emergency services. See more details about tackling this critical health workforce shortage on our dedicated EMS project page or by downloading our 2023 report on this topic here.
↓↓ Keep scrolling to see a full infographic on rural health challenges in both Indiana and the United States as a whole. ↓↓
