Course introduces students to the unique dynamics of health within rural communities. Topics include rural and frontier culture, rural health needs, rural-specific determinants of health, and the rural healthcare system. Students will learn the contextual and social/structural attributes of rural communities and the effects on individual and population health.
Athena Title
Rural & Frontier Health
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in HPRB 3300E
Prerequisite
COMM 1110 or BIOL 1103 or BIOL 1103E or BIOL 2103H or BIOL 2103S or BIOL 1107 or BIOL 1107E or BIOL 2107H or PSYC 1101 or PSYC 1030H or PSYC 1101E or HPRB 1710 or HPRB 1710E
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Students will compare and contrast the terms rural, frontier, and urban.
Students will explain the process of classifying rural, frontier, and urban designations.
Students will identify risk factors and health issues related specifically to rural populations.
Students will examine the predominant health issues faced in rural settings.
Students will describe the historical and current conditions that affect health in rural communities.
Students will discuss the unique challenges of rural populations related to workforce, ethics, economics, environment, behavior, and access to care.
Students will summarize the unique aspects of rural culture that affect the ways in which rural residents seek, achieve, and maintain health and wellbeing.
Students will examine and explain evidence-based solutions to challenges related to rural health.
Students will relate health issues to the ways in which the healthcare and preventive health system operate within rural areas.
Students will discuss future directions related to rural/frontier health.
Topical Outline
What is rural/frontier health?
History of health in rural/frontier communities
Barriers and access to care in rural areas
Public health workforce issues in rural areas
Ethical issues in rural communities
Rural health research & data
Mental health in rural areas
Integrated care in rural areas
Substance use and abuse in rural areas
HIV in rural areas
Heart disease, diabetes, and obesity in rural areas
Maternal and child health in rural areas
Environmental and occupational health in rural areas
Farmers and migrant farmworker health in rural areas
