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Addressing Disparities in Rural Health

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Rural Caregiving in the United States

Part of the book series: Caregiving: Research, Practice, Policy ((CARE))

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Abstract

It is estimated that by the year 2025, the USA’ racial and ethnic minority population will have increased to account for at least 40% of the nation (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). As the number of racial and ethnic minorities increase in America, so too does the number of adverse physical and mental health conditions among minority populations. A plethora of literature exist which document the disparities in health conditions between Whites and racial and ethnic minorities in the USA (e.g., Myers et al., 2003; Williams & Rucker, 2000), with minority populations experiencing limited access to health care, the most severe health problems, and overall poorer quality of care. Even when racial and ethnic minorities possess health coverage that is comparable to the levels of Whites, research evidence suggests that they still receive poorer quality of care for the same or similar health conditions (Alliance for Health Reform, 2004).

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Correspondence to Tawanda M. Greer Ph.D. .

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Greer, T.M. (2011). Addressing Disparities in Rural Health. In: Talley, R., Chwalisz, K., Buckwalter, K. (eds) Rural Caregiving in the United States. Caregiving: Research, Practice, Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0302-9_5

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