Advisory calls for bridging inequities in rural health

People who live in rural America are vulnerable to heart disease. Breaking down health care barriers for these residents is an inequity problem that needs innovative approaches, according to a new advisory from the 美国心脏协会.

It's a problem of inadequate and unaffordable health care and other systemic barriers that contribute to worse health outcomes, 咨询作者说, who include former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. 罗伯特·卡利夫和美国心脏协会主席. 罗伯特·哈林顿.

的 总统顾问该研究周一发表在该杂志上 循环, calls for more sustainable funding models to help keep struggling rural hospitals and care clinics afloat and for Medicaid expansion to give patients more affordable options.

It also recommends using tools like telehealth and digital technology as well as addressing the health care provider shortage in sparsely populated regions.

的re is a three-year life expectancy gap between rural and urban populations. 农村地区的烟草使用率较高, 缺乏运动和肥胖, which have given rise to higher rates of diabetes and hypertension. 反过来, rural communities have higher death rates from cardiovascular disease and stroke and higher maternal mortality rates due in part to cardiovascular deaths.

的se populations also are more likely to experience mental and behavioral health challenges than those in urban areas.

为了缩小差距, inequities in health and health care that result from disparities in income, 教育, 住房, transportation and food security must be addressed, 该建议的作者说.

的 advisory coincides with the release of AHA's new goal to increase healthy life expectancy by 2030 – from age 66 to at least 68 in the United States and from 64 to at least 67 globally.

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