Author
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KIRBY, RUSSELL - UNIV WIS-MADISON MED SCH |
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Submitted to: Nutrition and Health Status in the Lower Mississippi Delta of AR, LA, & MS
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The entire Delta area suffers from a deficit of health care providers Compared to the nation as a whole, but within the three-state region of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, considerable variability exists. For example, in the more sparsely populated regions, there are few or no primary health care providers, while there is an abundance of these professionals and specialists in the metropolitan centers. There are fewer physicians, dentists, nurses, advanced practice professionals and dietitians per 10,000 persons than national averages. These patterns are not unexpected given that the Delta region is predominantly rural and known to be a medically underserved area. Health services are higher- order goods from an economic geographic perspective, and these services require considerable market or service areas to generate sufficient demand to warrant their location in a particular community. The presence of other health services, professionals, or ancillary services is also an inducement, which doesn¿t exist in the Delta. The lower Delta has greater availability of hospital and nursing home beds than the nation as a whole, but use of hospital services is lower than national rates. Utilization of nursing home beds is higher than in other areas, resulting from the older population residing in the Delta. Each of the three states has a network of public and community health centers located at fixed sites within each county which requires travel on the part of patients. This represents a significant problem I the very rural areas. These data were collected on geopolitical units, which do not capture the essential patterns of health services-seeking behaviors. |
