Why is the racial gap widening between rural and urban America?<\/p>\n Kumar thinks there is some level of health care disparity and bias in health care delivery, which restricts rural residents from optimizing their health outcomes. In addition to the long-lasting shortage of physicians in rural areas, an disproportionate number of rural hospitals and nursing homes have closed in the last 10 years. This makes health care harder and more expensive for people living in these areas to access.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals with stroke require post-acute inpatient rehabilitation care more regularly compared to others. Living in rural areas makes it difficult for them to access the care they need,\u201d he said. \u201cAfrican Americans have a higher risk of stroke. Because of lower access to post-acute inpatient rehabilitation services in rural areas, African Americans living in rural areas are at higher risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Study coauthor Julie A. Baldwin<\/strong>, Regents\u2019 professor of health sciences and director of the Center for Health Equity Research<\/a>\u00a0and PI of the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC), said the findings concern her, both because of how little progress has been made up to now but also because of what they could mean for the future of rural America.<\/p>\n \u201cThe results are disturbing because the gap appears to be widening after accounting for socioeconomic characteristics,\u201d she said. \u201cMoreover, the evidence suggests that we are not making progress in reducing the gap even 17 years after the Institute of Medicine\u2019s Report, ‘Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care,’ was published. This report demonstrated that people of color are less likely to receive preventive care than whites and often receive lower-quality care in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Adjusted](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-06-at-2.07.27-PM.png\")
<\/a>\u201cThis study indicates that the mortality differences among older black and white adults have narrowed in the urban areas; however, there is considerable widening in mortality rates among black and white men living in rural and suburban areas,\u201d said Amit Kumar<\/strong>, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Northern Arizona University and a senior author on the paper. \u201cNotably, the current mortality rate of black men living in rural areas is like that of white men living in urban and rural areas in the mid-1980s.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Northern](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/NAU_primary-281_3514-300x213.png\")
<\/a>Carly Banks | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5582 | carly.banks@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"