Annual Rural Health Conference:

NRHA's Annual Rural Health Conference is the nation's largest rural health conference, created for anyone with an interest in rural health care, including rural health practitioners, hospital administrators, clinic directors and lay health workers, social workers, state and federal health employees, academics, community members and more.

The exhibit:

Exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers

Don't miss the opportunity to increase your visibility in the rural market with ads and sponsorships or by becoming a vetted NRHA Partner.

NRHA offers sponsorships for all events, providing a valuable opportunity for your organization to gain visibility. These sponsorships, ads and partnerships are great ways to get your company's message in the hands of hundreds of attendees.

Remember, one-third of all U.S. hospitals are rural facilities.

The CDC Experience:

Interested in meeting CDC staff and learning more about the agency’s rural health work? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pleased to host the CDC Experience at their Atlanta headquarters during NRHA's 2019 annual events.

The Experience will provide you an opportunity to make connections with CDC staff and hear about the agency and its efforts to improve the health of rural populations.

About Rural Health Care:

The obstacles faced by health care providers and patients in rural areas are vastly different than those in urban areas. Economic factors, cultural and social differences, educational shortcomings, lack of recognition by legislators and the sheer isolation of living in remote areas all conspire to create health care disparities and impede rural Americans in their struggle to lead normal, healthy lives.
 
Workforce Shortage Problems:

Ease of access to a physician is greater in urban areas. The patient-to- primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas. This uneven distribution of physicians has an impact on the health of the population.[2]
There are 30 generalist dentists per 100,000 residents in urban areas versus 22 per 100,000 in rural areas.[3]  

Socioeconomic Factors:

Rural residents tend to be poorer. On average, per capita income in rural areas is $9,242[4] lower than the average per capita income in the United States, and rural Americans are more likely to live below the poverty level. The disparity in incomes is even greater for minorities living in rural areas. About 25 percent of rural children live in poverty.

People who live in rural America rely more heavily on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits program. According to the Center for Rural Affairs, 14.6 percent of rural households receive SNAP benefits, while 10.9 percent of metropolitan households receive assistance. In all, 1.1 million households receive SNAP benefits.

Rural residents have greater transportation difficulties reaching health care providers, often traveling great distances to reach a doctor or hospital.

Tobacco use is a significant problem among rural youth. Rural youths over the age of 12 are more likely to smoke cigarettes (26.6 percent versus 19 percent in large metro areas). They are also far more likely to use smokeless tobacco, with usage rates of 6.7 percent in rural areas and 2.1 percent in metropolitan areas.

Fifty-three percent of rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps of bandwidth, the benchmark for internet speed according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Lack of high-speed internet access can be a hindrance to accessing information, representing another challenge rural Americans face.

Rural communities have more uninsured residents, as well as higher rates of unemployment, leading to less access to care.
 
Health Inequity:

More than 50 percent of vehicle crash-related fatalities happen in rural areas, even though less than one-third of miles traveled in a vehicle occur there.

In rural areas there is an additional 22 percent risk of injury-related death.

Rural areas have more frequent occurrences of diabetes and coronary heart disease than non-rural areas.
Mental health creates new challenges in rural areas, such as:

Accessibility: Rural residents often travel long distances to receive services, are less likely to be insured for mental health services, and less likely to recognize the illness.

Availability: Chronic shortages of mental health professionals exist, as mental health providers are more likely to live in urban centers.

Acceptability: The stigma of needing or receiving mental health care and fewer choices of trained professionals create barriers to care.

Rural youth are twice as likely to commit suicide.

Source: Event Website