The link between an individual’s health status and various social determinants has been confirmed in numerous research studies, and the history of such research spans decades. The majority of these studies have focused on the role that socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity play in the lifestyle choices, environmental risks, and health care access of individuals. A new study in Canada builds off this research in an effort to better understand the health inequalities of older women by utilizing a comparative approach between rural and urban residential settings.
Previous research in Canada suggests that self-rated health status gets worse the further away from an urban center an individual lives. Similar findings have been discovered in the U.S. The general consensus has been that rural older adults generally are in poorer health than their urban peers. What is unclear is why this difference persists.
Focusing on the different determinants in rural and urban settings of self-perceived health, arthritis/rheumatism, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, this study examined data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, focusing on a subsample of 14,600 women ages 65 years and older. The results were surprising and led to more questions. In their comparative analysis, the researchers found that social forces operate in different ways to impact the health of older women living rural and urban settings. A number of socioeconomic variables were shown to have no impact on women in rural settings, whereas the health of women in urban settings was significantly related to these factors. Interestingly, the same pattern was found with food insecurity. Women in urban settings were significantly impacted by a lack of access to food, while those in rural settings were not.
This research indicates that models of health intervention may not be applicable across social locations. For service providers who operate in both locations, these findings are unsurprising; however, further research is needed so that we can better address the reasons why rural older adults still face greater health risks than their urban peers.
Source: Wanless, D., Mitchell, B., Wister, A. 2010. Social determinants of health for older women in Canada: Does rural-urban residency matter? Canadian Journal on Aging 29(2): 233-247.