Addressing Rural Barriers and Women’s Access to Healthcare

Michele L. Statz, PhD, assistant professor and anthropologist of law in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health collaborates with third-year medical student, Kaylie Evers to examine rural women's interpretations of rural distance as a multifaceted dimension of accessing healthcare, which includes health services and maternity care. 

Published in Health & Place International Journal, the article highlights barriers to rural healthcare are viewed as moral failings, not spatial or structural challenges. It also outlines the need for policy efforts to address rural healthcare deserts that must consider the role of medical mistrust and limitations to rural women's ability and willingness to access healthcare.

Michele Statz, Kaylie Evers, Spatial barriers as moral failings: What rural distance can teach us about women's health and medical mistrust author names and affiliations. Health & Place, Volume 64, 2020, 102396, ISSN 1353-8292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102396.