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Thomas C. Rosenthal, MD; Chester Fox, MD

JAMA. 2000;284:2034-2036.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

In addition to the usual challenges of chronic disease and functional decline, the rural elderly also face geographic isolation. Sixty-one million people live in the rural United States, a number that exceeds the entire population of the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, or France.¹ Nearly 15% of the US rural population is aged 65 years or older. As they age, the rural elderly confront several barriers to obtaining medical care. To a far greater degree than their urban counterparts, rural primary care physicians are expected to provide urgent care, rehabilitation, outreach, and specialty care (in collaboration with distant urban specialists) for their patients. Health care outcomes for the rural elderly, as with other groups in the United States, are influenced more by social position, insurance status, clinician access, and economic status than by geography.² When differences in outcomes between rural and urban health care . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Demographics of Rural Elderly

Funding Rural Health Services

Geriatric Clinician Supply

Inpatient Services

Improving Care for the Rural Elderly

Author Affiliations: Department of Family Medicine (Dr Rosenthal), Clinical Family Medicine, Lake Plains Rural Health Network (Dr Fox), State University of New York, Buffalo (Drs Rosenthal and Fox), and the Journal of Rural Health, Buffalo, NY (Dr Rosenthal).

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