The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #40118

Armenia M. Williams, DPA, RNC, FNP, School of Nursing, Georgia State University, 6235 Rockland Road, Lithonia, GA 30038, 404-651-4274, awilliam@gsu.edu and Judith L. Wold, PhD, RN, Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322.

Rural populations have little or no access to health care and preventive programs. However, rural work sites are ideal settings to reach such people. Problems with rural industry outreach and research have been: 1) small numbers of personnel at such work sites, 2)travel distances, 3) research design and appropriate methodology with small samples in varied work settings,and 4)cost of such outreach/research. Schools of nursing and other health profession schools can provide screening and health education programs concurrently with rural health experiences for their students. Such strategies have been tested with a rural population of 1,200+ working women and men. Statistical analysis demonstrates efficacy of these strategies, providing an evidence based model for such an approach to rural populations. Health policy decisions related to funding and other resources can be justified by the research findings.

Learning Objectives: After attending this session, the participant should be able to

• Describe the health risks of rural working populations.
• Analyze the relationships of poor health access, risk for disease, and needs for health screening and education intervention with rural workers.
• Evaluate the evidence based outcomes for rural work site based interventions which focus on health behaviors.
• Compare intervention outcomes among population samples of rural working women and men.

Keywords: Access to Care, Health Education Strategies

Related Web page: None.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.