Date of Award
Spring 5-18-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Austin Johnson
Abstract
Rural regions in the United States are home to nearly one in five Americans. For decades, health disparities between rural and urban populations have been measured and discussed. Rurality has been identified as a predictor of poor health but very little research has examined why this might be the case. This project examines whether rurality should be considered a fundamental cause of disease as living in a rural space controls access to resources. To test this, a new model was developed relating health outcomes to rurality. Initial results indicate that rurality has a statistically significant but marginal impact on health. This impact is exaggerated in health conditions that are more closely tied to fears of stigma, indicating that social and cultural resources may play an outsized role in rural health disparities.
Recommended Citation
Warren, Evangeline, "Community, Culture, and Care: Examining Rurality as a Fundamental Cause of Disease" (2019). Honors Theses. 235.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/honorstheses/235
Rights Statement
All rights reserved. This copy is provided to the Kenyon Community solely for individual academic use. For any other use, please contact the copyright holder for permission.