Mode of Travel and Actual Distance Traveled for Medical or Dental Care by Rural Residents

Funder:	Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Research center:	South Carolina Rural Health Research Center Phone: 803.251.6317
Lead researchers:	Sarah Laditka, PhD , 803.777.3332, sladitka@gwm.sc.edu Janice C. Probst, PhD , 803.251.6317, jprobst@gwm.sc.edu
Project funded:	August 2005
Project completed:	August 2006
Topics:	Dental health Health disparities Health services Minority health

Research using geographic information systems (GIS) has begun to confirm what appears intuitively obvious: rural populations travel further for medical or dental facilities than urban populations, and, in many cases, greater travel time is associated with reduced access to care. This project will use the National Household Transportation Survey, conducted by the US Department of Transportation, to explore patterns of travel for care by rural residents, calculate distances traveled by rural white and minority residents, and explore whether rural residents perceive road conditions (congestion, poor surface) to be more of a barrier than do urban residents.

Publications

• Mode of Travel and Actual Distance Traveled For Medical or Dental Care By Rural and Urban Residents
  Author(s): Janice C. Probst, Sarah B. Laditka, Jong-Yi Wang, Andy Johnson
  Date: 05 / 2006
  Discusses the cost and difficulty associated with travel for medical or dental care, which may serve as a barrier for rural populations. Executive summary available online. The full report is available by contacting Janie Godbold at godboldj@gwm.sc.edu.
• Mode of Travel and Actual Distance Traveled For Medical or Dental Care By Rural and Urban Residents (Fact Sheet)
  Date: 2007
  Fact sheet addressing the cost and difficulty associated with travel for medical or dental care. A full report is also available.