By: @Braeden Doyle
Rural communities experience higher rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, suicide, injury, and poor dental health – and ‘distance decay’ may be to blame. A new review of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries has shown a strong correlation between distance or travel time and healthcare services in rural areas.
“Impact of Distance and/or Travel Time on Healthcare Service Access in Rural and Remote Areas: a Scoping Review” finds that, of 135 previous studies, 113 found evidence of ‘distance decay’ – or the reduction of health service access with an increase of distance or travel time. This fall-off was observed at distances as short as 16 kilometers or 30 minutes, and as long as 100 kilometers or 60 minutes. Distance decay was more likely to be observed in studies of generalist services, such as a physical check-up, compared to that of specialist services.
Other factors appear to influence the distance individuals are willing to travel for medical care as well. Age appeared in several studies as an indicator of distance decay – older and younger populations seem less likely to travel long distances for services, in part due to their potential reliance on others for mobility. Women were also identified as a population less likely to travel, which researchers speculate could be due to family responsibilities not shared by male counterparts. Finally, the review found that ethnicity, socio-economic status, and transportation options all played a role in distance decay.
Reduced access to medical services means preventable diseases go un-checked. Because of the risk that distance decay extends to rural communities, the authors of this review recommend the improvement of infrastructure and availability of local healthcare services in rural areas. The following are among their suggestions:
- Establishing new generalist services closer to rural communities
- Expansion of outreach from larger regional centers
- Building of generalist skills among rural specialists
- Use of ‘telehealth’ services
- Investment in travel assistance services
- Increasing of general levels of education in rural communities
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