Primary Health Care in the rural context: the nurses' view.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the view of nurses from the Family Health Strategy on the health care of rural populations. METHOD: A qualitative and exploratory research conducted with eleven nurses working in rural areas, conducted from January to March 2017, in Campina Grande-PB. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by the Content Analysis technique. RESULTS: Nurses associate the health context of the rural population with the living conditions of the community, with the lack of access to health services, and with the peculiarities of work resulting from this context. The satisfaction of rural PHC nurses is associated with professional identification and bond with the population. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses perceive the particularities that involve the rural context requiring differentiated health care that positively impacts their work.

Primary Health Care in the rural context: the nurses' view / Atención Primaria de Salud en el contexto rural: la visión de la Enfermería / A Atenção Primária à Saúde no contexto rural: visão de enfermeiros

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the view of nurses from the Family Health Strategy on the health care of rural populations. Method: A qualitative and exploratory research conducted with eleven nurses working in rural areas, conducted from January to March 2017, in Campina Grande-PB. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by the Content Analysis technique. Results: Nurses associate the health context of the rural population with the living conditions of the community, with the lack of access to health services, and with the peculiarities of work resulting from this context. The satisfaction of rural PHC nurses is associated with professional identification and bond with the population. Conclusions: Nurses perceive the particularities that involve the rural context requiring differentiated health care that positively impacts their work.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Analizar la opinión de los enfermeros del programa Estrategia de Salud de la Familia sobre la atención de la salud de las poblaciones rurales. Método: Investigación exploratoria y cualitativa realizada con once enfermeros que trabajan en áreas rurales, realizada de enero a marzo de 2017, en Campina Grande-PB. Los datos se recolectaron por medio de entrevistas semiestructuradas y el análisis de datos se llevó a cabo por la técnica de Análisis de Contenido. Resultados: Los enfermeros asocian el contexto de salud de la población rural con las condiciones de vida de la comunidad, la falta de acceso a los servicios de salud y las peculiaridades del trabajo derivadas de este contexto. El grado de satisfacción de los enfermeros rurales de la APS está asociado con la identificación profesional y el vínculo con la población. Conclusiones: Los enfermeros advierten las particularidades inherentes al contexto rural que requiere de una atención médica diferenciada capaz de ejercer un efecto positivo en su trabajo.

RESUMO Objetivo: Analisar a visão de enfermeiros da Estratégia de Saúde da Família sobre a atenção a saúde de populações rurais. Método: Pesquisa qualitativa, exploratória realizada com onze enfermeiros que atuam em área rural, realizada de janeiro a março de 2017, em Campina Grande-PB. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e analisados pela técnica de Análise de Conteúdo. Resultados: Os enfermeiros associam o contexto de saúde da população rural às condições de vida da comunidade, à escassez de acesso aos serviços de saúde e às peculiaridades de trabalho decorrentes desse contexto. A satisfação do enfermeiro da APS rural associa-se à identificação com o contexto da saúde no meio rural e vínculo com a população. Conclusões: Os enfermeiros percebem a dinâmica de trabalho particular que envolve o contexto rural necessitando de atenção à saúde diferenciada que impacte de forma positiva em seu trabalho.

Primary Health Care in the rural context: the nurses view / Atención Primaria de Salud en el contexto rural: la visión de la Enfermería / A Atenção Primária à Saúde no contexto rural: visão de enfermeiros

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the view of nurses from the Family Health Strategy on the health care of rural populations. Method: A qualitative and exploratory research conducted with eleven nurses working in rural areas, conducted from January to March 2017, in Campina Grande-PB. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by the Content Analysis technique. Results: Nurses associate the health context of the rural population with the living conditions of the community, with the lack of access to health services, and with the peculiarities of work resulting from this context. The satisfaction of rural PHC nurses is associated with professional identification and bond with the population. Conclusions: Nurses perceive the particularities that involve the rural context requiring differentiated health care that positively impacts their work.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Analizar la opinión de los enfermeros del programa Estrategia de Salud de la Familia sobre la atención de la salud de las poblaciones rurales. Método: Investigación exploratoria y cualitativa realizada con once enfermeros que trabajan en áreas rurales, realizada de enero a marzo de 2017, en Campina Grande-PB. Los datos se recolectaron por medio de entrevistas semiestructuradas y el análisis de datos se llevó a cabo por la técnica de Análisis de Contenido. Resultados: Los enfermeros asocian el contexto de salud de la población rural con las condiciones de vida de la comunidad, la falta de acceso a los servicios de salud y las peculiaridades del trabajo derivadas de este contexto. El grado de satisfacción de los enfermeros rurales de la APS está asociado con la identificación profesional y el vínculo con la población. Conclusiones: Los enfermeros advierten las particularidades inherentes al contexto rural que requiere de una atención médica diferenciada capaz de ejercer un efecto positivo en su trabajo.

RESUMO Objetivo: Analisar a visão de enfermeiros da Estratégia de Saúde da Família sobre a atenção a saúde de populações rurais. Método: Pesquisa qualitativa, exploratória realizada com onze enfermeiros que atuam em área rural, realizada de janeiro a março de 2017, em Campina Grande-PB. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e analisados pela técnica de Análise de Conteúdo. Resultados: Os enfermeiros associam o contexto de saúde da população rural às condições de vida da comunidade, à escassez de acesso aos serviços de saúde e às peculiaridades de trabalho decorrentes desse contexto. A satisfação do enfermeiro da APS rural associa-se à identificação com o contexto da saúde no meio rural e vínculo com a população. Conclusões: Os enfermeiros percebem a dinâmica de trabalho particular que envolve o contexto rural necessitando de atenção à saúde diferenciada que impacte de forma positiva em seu trabalho.

Willingness to receive institutional and community-based eldercare among the rural elderly in China.

Studies on the willingness to receive institutional eldercare among the rural elderly are scarce. This study aims to explore factors associated with the willingness to receive institutional eldercare and community-based eldercare among the rural elderly. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three rural villages of Changde City, Hunan Province, China. A total of 517 elderly were recruited through multistage sampling from these villages. The dependent variable is the willingness to receive eldercare from family (as reference), institution, and community. The independent variables includes sociodemographic characteristics: having physical disease, depression, anxiety, and daily living activities, and concerns toward home-based, institutional, and community-based care, respectively. Results show that 78.3% of the elderly are willing to receive home-based eldercare, 10.8% institutional eldercare, and 8.5% community-based eldercare. The factors associated with the willingness to receive institutional eldercare are having concerns toward home-based (OR = 4.85, P<0.001) and institutional eldercare (OR = 5.51, P<0.001). The factors associated with community-based care is living alone (OR = 2.18, P = 0.034). Finally, the major concerns toward home-based eldercare are lack of care ability and separation of family members, whereas those toward institutional eldercare are unaffordable services and fear of being abandoned by the children. The major concerns toward community-based eldercare includes affordability and lack of necessary services. In summary, elderly having concerns toward home-based care and having no concerns about institutional care are willing to accept institutional eldercare. Elderly who are living alone is tend to accept community-based care. Unaffordable services and loss of contact with family members are the major concerns of institutional eldercare. Aside from the cost, the lack of necessary care services is also a serious concern of community-based eldercare.

Rural-Urban Difference in Workplace Supports and Impacts for Employed Caregivers.

PURPOSE: This study examines rural-urban differences in employed caregivers' access to workplace supports, negative impacts of caregiving on work, and the association between work and caregiver strain, which can have negative impacts on health. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional analysis of employed caregivers (n = 635) from the 2015 Caregiving in the US survey, including bivariate comparisons of caregiver characteristics, access to workplace benefits, and workplace impacts by rural-urban location, as well as ordered logistic regression models to assess the relationship between workplace benefits and impacts and caregiver strain, stratified by rural-urban location. FINDINGS: Employed rural caregivers had significantly fewer workplace benefits available to them (1.3 out of 5 vs 1.9, P < .001), compared with urban caregivers. In particular, employed rural caregivers were less likely to have access to telecommuting, employee assistance programs, and paid leave. For the full sample, having more negative workplace impacts was associated with greater caregiver strain (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.65, P < .001); for employed rural caregivers, using paid help for caregiving was associated with more strain (AOR: 4.39, P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: More should be done to support all employed caregivers, especially those in rural locations who have more limited access to workplace supports and who may be more negatively impacted by the financial toll of caregiving and of missing work because of caregiving responsibilities. Interventions could range from employer-initiated programs to local, state, or national policies to improve supports provided to employed caregivers in urban and rural areas.

'Poorly defined': unknown unknowns in New Zealand Rural Health.

There is a considerable mismatch between the population that accesses rural healthcare in New Zealand and the population defined as 'rural' using the current statistics New Zealand rural and urban categorisations. Statistics New Zealand definitions (based on population size or density) do not accurately identify the population of New Zealanders who actually access rural health services. In fact, around 40% of people who access rural health services are classified as 'urban' under the Statistics New Zealand definition, while a further 20% of people who are currently classified as 'rural' actually have ready access to urban health services. Although there is some recognition that current definitions are suboptimal, the extent of the uncertainty arising from these definitions is not widely appreciated. This mismatch is sufficient to potentially undermine the validity of both nationally-collated statistics and also any research undertaken using Statistics New Zealand data. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the differences between rural and urban health care found in other countries with similar health services have been difficult to demonstrate in New Zealand. This article explains the extent of this mismatch and suggests how definitions of rural might be improved to allow a better understanding of New Zealand rural health.

Adapting the Index of Relative Rurality (IRR) to Estimate Rurality at the ZIP Code Level: A Rural Classification System in Health Services Research.

BACKGROUND: Accurate analysis of health problems facing rural residents depends on how rurality is defined. Health services research relies frequently on the rural urban commuting area (RUCA) codes to estimate rurality at the small area level. We modified the county-level Index of Relative Rurality (IRR) to the ZIP code level (IRRZIP ) to create an alternative small-area-level rural classification system. We then compared how the 2 rural classification systems differ in how rural areas and populations are defined and in methodological analysis. METHODS: We linked data for veterans (n = 37,466) who attended the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System to 2000 United States Census and the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service data. RESULTS: The RUCA and the IRRZIP do not consistently classify the same ZIP code areas and populations as rural. Using the IRRZIP , each 10th increment in increased rurality was associated with a 2.6 increased odds of receiving primary care at a satellite clinic. CONCLUSIONS: The IRRZIP is a straightforward measure that is easy to use and interpret and may be a relevant alternative rural classification system that can be used in health services research.

A Rural Taxonomy of Population and Health-Resource Characteristics.

This policy brief reports the newly developed taxonomy of rural places based on relevant population and health-resource characteristics; and discusses how this classification tool can be utilized by policy makers and rural communities. Key Findings. (1) We classified 10 distinct types of rural places based on characteristics related to both demand (population) and supply (health resources) sides of the health services market. (2) In descending order, the most significant dimensions in our classification were facility resources, provider resources, economic resources, and age distribution. (3) Each type of rural place was distinct from other types of places based on one or two defining dimensions.

Distance to emergency obstetric services and early neonatal mortality in Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of distance to emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) services on early neonatal mortality in rural Ethiopia and examine whether proximity to services contributes to socio-economic inequalities in early neonatal mortality. METHODS: We linked data from the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey with facility data from the 2008 Ethiopian National EmONC Needs Assessment based on geographical coordinates collected in both surveys. Health facilities were classified based on the performance of nine EmONC signal functions (e.g. neonatal resuscitation, Caesarean section). We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the relationship between distance to services and early neonatal mortality. A decomposition approach was used to quantify the relative contributions of distance to EmONC services and other determinants to overall and socio-economic inequality in early neonatal mortality. RESULTS: In general, closer proximity to EmONC services and higher level of care were associated with lower early neonatal mortality. Living more than 80 km from the nearest comprehensive EmONC facility able to perform all nine signal functions compared to living within 10 km was associated with an increase of 14.4 early neonatal deaths per 1000 live births (95% CI: 0.1, 28.7). Closer proximity to a substandard EmONC facility compared with no facility was not associated with lower early neonatal mortality. Distance to EmONC services was an important determinant of early neonatal mortality, although it did not make a significant contribution to explaining socio-economic inequality. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that recent initiatives by the Ethiopian government to improve geographical access to EmONC services have the potential to reduce early neonatal mortality but may not affect inequalities.

Frequently used healthcare services in urban slums of Dhaka and adjacent rural areas and their determinants.

BACKGROUND: To compare patterns of healthcare service user preference between urban slums in Dhaka and adjacent rural areas and to identify key determinants of those preferences. METHODS: The data were collected through baseline surveys conducted in 2008 and 2009. A total of 3207 subjects aged 10-90 years were systematically selected from 12 big slums in Dhaka and 3 rural villages outside Dhaka. RESULTS: Two frequently used healthcare sources utilized in 1 month preceding the baseline survey were pharmacies (slum, 42.6%; rural, 30.1%) and government hospitals/clinics (GVHC; slum, 13.5%; rural, 8.9%). According to the multilevel logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex and marital status, the likelihood of using pharmacies and GVHC were higher for those subjects who used non-hygienic toilets, who reported food deficiency at a family level, who expressed dissatisfaction about family income and who stated poor health status. Some more factors namely overweight, living in permanently structured house, smoking bidis and less frequency of watching TV were associated with higher likelihood of using GVHC. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacy was the most dominant healthcare service in both areas. As persons running pharmacies often provide poor quality of healthcare services, they need continuous training and back-up supports to improve their quality of services and to strengthen the overall healthcare system in Bangladesh.

Definition of "rural" determines the placement outcomes of a rural medical education program: analysis of Jichi Medical University graduates.

PURPOSE: To show the impact of changing the definition of what is "rural" on the outcomes of a rural medical education program. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 643 graduates under obligatory rural service and 1,699 graduates after serving their obligation, all from Jichi Medical University (JMU), a binding rural education program in Japan, were used as the data source. Communities were divided into decile groups according to population density, and the cut-off for "rural/nonrural" was altered in order to study its impact on the data. FINDINGS: The rural practice rate of obliged graduates had its peak in the decile groups with the lowest population densities, while the peak rates of postobligation graduates and non-JMU physicians were at the decile groups with the highest population densities. Rural practice rates of all of the 3 groups of physicians increased with the increase in inclusiveness of rural definition. The ratio of rural practice rate of obliged graduates to that of non-JMU physicians ("relative effectiveness") increased remarkably with the increase in exclusiveness of rural definition. The relative effectiveness of postobligation graduates did not substantially increase after the cut-off exceeded a certain point of exclusiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Definition of "rural" largely determined the rural practice rate and relative effectiveness of JMU graduates. The results suggest that results of past outcome studies of rural medical education programs are potentially biased depending on how rural is defined.

Public Health Service Act, Rural Physician Training Grant Program, definition of "underserved rural community." Interim final rule with request for comment.

This interim final rule (IFR) with request for comment is meant to comply with the statutory directive to issue a regulation defining "underserved rural community" for purposes of the Rural Physician Training Grant Program in section 749B of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This IFR is technical in nature. It will not change grant or funding eligibility for any other grant program currently available through the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) or HRSA. For purposes of the Rural Physician Training Grant Program only, HRSA has combined existing definitions of "underserved" and "rural" by using the definition of rural utilized by the ORHP Rural Health Grant programs and the definition of "underserved" established by HRSA's Office of Shortage Designation (OSD) in the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr).

On the spatial inequalities of institutional versus home births in Ghana: a multilevel analysis.

Spatial inequalities related to the choice of delivery care have not been studied systematically in Sub-Saharan Africa where maternal and perinatal health outcomes continue to worsen despite a range of safe motherhood interventions. Using retrospective data from the 1998 and 2003 Demographic and Health Surveys, this paper investigates the extent of changes in spatial inequalities associated with type of delivery care in Ghana with a focus on rural-urban differentials within and across the three ecological zones (Savannah, Forest and Coastal). More than one-half of births in Ghana continue to occur outside health institutions without any skilled obstetric care. While this is already known, we present evidence from multilevel analyses that there exist considerable and growing inequalities, with regard to birth settings between communities, within rural and urban areas and across the ecological zones. The results show evidence of poor and disproportionate use of institutional care at birth; the inequalities remained high and unchanged in both urban and rural communities within the Savannah zone and widening in urban communities of the Forest and Coastal zones. The key policy challenges in Ghana, therefore, include both increasing the uptake of institutional delivery care and ensuring equity in access to both public and private health institutions.

Clinical peripherality: development of a peripherality index for rural health services.

BACKGROUND: The configuration of rural health services is influenced by geography. Rural health practitioners provide a broader range of services to smaller populations scattered over wider areas or more difficult terrain than their urban counterparts. This has implications for training and quality assurance of outcomes. This exploratory study describes the development of a "clinical peripherality" indicator that has potential application to remote and rural general practice communities for planning and research purposes. METHODS: Profiles of general practice communities in Scotland were created from a variety of public data sources. Four candidate variables were chosen that described demographic and geographic characteristics of each practice: population density, number of patients on the practice list, travel time to nearest specialist led hospital and travel time to Health Board administrative headquarters. A clinical peripherality index, based on these variables, was derived using factor analysis. Relationships between the clinical peripherality index and services offered by the practices and the staff profile of the practices were explored in a series of univariate analyses. RESULTS: Factor analysis on the four candidate variables yielded a robust one-factor solution explaining 75% variance with factor loadings ranging from 0.83 to 0.89. Rural and remote areas had higher median values and a greater scatter of clinical peripherality indices among their practices than an urban comparison area. The range of services offered and the profile of staffing of practices was associated with the peripherality index. CONCLUSION: Clinical peripherality is determined by the nature of the practice and its location relative to secondary care and administrative and educational facilities. It has features of both gravity model-based and travel time/accessibility indicators and has the potential to be applied to training of staff for rural and remote locations and to other aspects of health policy and planning. It may assist planners in conceptualising the effects on general practices of centralising specialist clinical services or administrative and educational facilities.

How do we define 'rurality' in the teaching on medical demography?

CONTEXT: There is growing interest worldwide in the teaching of rural and community medicine to medical students. Medical teachers have a responsibility to introduce their students to different health experiences, in both urban and rural environments. The definition of a rural area can be problematic. ISSUE: There is no one universal definition of a rural area. This makes comparisons of data from differently defined areas problematic. Definitions of a rural area have been based on population size, access to health care, occupation and other socioeconomic variables, and political proclamations. LESSONS LEARNED: There is no easy answer to such a complex issue as the definition of rurality. At best, medical teachers should inform their students that the definition of a rural area can be context specific, and may not be comparable between states. Defining the features of a particular rural area in academic writing may reduce some of the difficulties a reader may have in understanding the context. A universal definition of a rural area is not possible.

Coverage, utilization and barriers to cataract surgical services in rural South India: results from a population-based study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the cataract surgical coverage, utilization and barriers to cataract surgery in a rural taluk of south India. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional, community-based survey. METHODS: A house-to-house survey was carried out in 15 villages that were selected by cluster sampling during January to October, 2002. A total of 1505 people aged 50 years and above were tested for visual acuity (VA) and their eyes examined. Cataract surgical coverage was calculated for people and eyes, and for VA levels of <3/60 and <6/60. Information about details of cataract surgery and barriers to cataract surgery were collected using a pre-designed proforma. RESULTS: Cataract surgical coverage was 63% (people) and 51% (eyes) for VA<3/60 compared with 49% (people) and 36% (eyes) for VA<6/60. Of 109 operated eyes, 51.2% of operations were carried out in private hospitals and 33.3% in voluntary/charitable hospitals. Inability to afford the operation (22.9%) and fear of the operation (19.2%) were the main barriers to cataract surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The reasons for underutilization of government hospitals are to be investigated. Awareness of low-cost cataract intraocular lens (IOL) non-governmental organization (NGO) surgery and free-of-cost NGO services available in the region needs to be raised. Barriers to cataract surgical services should be addressed by community-based health-education programmes to improve the uptake of existing services.

Attenuation of racial differences in health service utilization patterns for previously uninsured children in the Delta.

CONTEXT: A school-based health insurance program for children of the working poor was conducted in 2 isolated, rural communities in the Lower Mississippi Delta region. The larger of the 2 communities had an array of locally available health care providers, whereas the smaller community did not. In response to this lack of available care, the project designed and delivered outreach programs, including transportation to providers. PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of race, age, and gender in the relationships between the utilization of care and the impact of outreach programs. METHOD: General estimating equation models are used to examine the response of utilization variables to race, age, gender, and community. Four years of insurance claims data are analyzed. FINDINGS: Race is seen to be an important component of utilization. The majority of participants were African American; however, children receiving prescription services, emergency room care, routine physician visits, and hospital outpatient services were more likely to be white. Outreach programs in vision and dental services were found to eliminate racial differences and increase utilization. A relatively strong gender effect was found in prescription, wellness, vision, and dental services. CONCLUSIONS: Previous research has shown differences by race in utilization of care. Our findings show that targeted outreach programs can significantly diminish these differences. Findings also suggest that barriers to health care for poor rural children are closely linked to transportation and availability of providers, not merely to cost of care or insurance.

Rural Indian women's care-seeking behavior and choice of provider for gynecological symptoms.

This study uses data from the India National Family and Health Survey-2 conducted in 1998-99 to investigate the level and correlates of care-seeking and choice of provider for gynecological symptoms among currently married women in rural India. Of the symptomatic women surveyed, 31 percent sought care, overwhelmingly from private providers (70 percent). Only 8 percent of women consulted frontline paramedical health workers. Care-seeking behavior and type of providers consulted varied significantly across different Indian states. Significant differentials in care-seeking by age, caste, religion, education, household wealth, and women's autonomy suggest the existence of multiple cultural, economic, and demand-side barriers to care-seeking. Although socially disadvantaged women were less likely than better-off women to consult private providers, the majority of even the poorest, uneducated, and lower-caste women consulted private providers. Geographical access to public health facilities had no significant association with choice of provider, whereas access to private providers had only a moderately significant association with that choice. The predominance of use of private services for self-perceived gynecological morbidity warrants the inclusion of private providers in the national reproductive health strategy to enhance its effectiveness.