Open AccessHEALTH STATUS AND HEALTH CARE IN RURAL AUSTRALIA: A CASE STUDY
Author(s) -
Humphreys J.S.,
Weinand H.C.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
community health studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 0314-9021
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.1989.tb00205.x
Subject(s) - health care , health services , affect (linguistics) , rural health , rural area , environmental health , medicine , service (business) , nursing , socioeconomics , business , psychology , economic growth , sociology , population , marketing , communication , pathology , economics
Knowledge of the health status of, and patterns of health care service utilization by rural Australian communities, is scant. This deficiency limits attempts to formulate policies designed to bring about efficient, effective and equitable delivery of health care services. This article reports the results of a health interview survey conducted in the Wimmera region of Victoria during spring 1984. The results demonstrate not only that patterns of morbidity in rural areas differ from the Australian average, but also that the health status of rural dwellers is worse than that of most Australians. Evidence suggests that while accessibility is not the most significant determinant of utilization of health care services, distance from services does affect propensity to use them.