Patterns of Health Services Utilization in Rural Canada was released on October 24, 2011 at 3 p.m. as a supplement of the Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) quarterly, peer-reviewed journal, Chronic Diseases and Injuries in Canada.

CDIC, Volume 31, Supplement 1: Patterns of Health Services Utilization in Rural Canada

October 24, 2011

Chronic Diseases and Injuries in Canada, Vol 31, Supplement 1, Fall 2011:
Patterns of Health Services Utilization in Rural Canada
R.W. Pong, M. DesMeules, D. Heng, C. Lagacé, J.R. Guernsey, A. Kazanjian, D. Manuel, J.R. Pitblado, R. Bollman, I. Koren, M.P. Dressler, F. Wang, W. Luo

Context of the study

Canadians value ease of access to their health services. Although many studies have focused on accessibility to health services in Canada, few have examined rural-urban differences in this aspect, particularly from a national perspective. Yet disparities in access to health services exist between rural and urban populations, as do the challenges of delivering health care to more remote areas or to those with small populations.

"Canada's Rural Communities: Understanding Rural Health and Its Determinants" is a three-year research project co-funded by the Canadian Population Health Initiative (CPHI) of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). It involves investigators from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (CRaNHR) at Laurentian University, and other researchers. The first publication of the research project was How Healthy Are Rural Canadians? An Assessment of Their Health Status and Health Determinants; this, the second publication, is a descriptive analysis of the utilization patterns of a broad range of health services by rural residents compared to their urban counterparts.

Article in PDF:

Volume 31 - Supplement 1 - Fall 2011 Patterns of Health Services Utilization in Rural Canada

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada