ABSTRACT

Poor health habits correlate with morbidity and mortality. Rural communities often have decreased access to prevention programs and health care. As a state highly dependent on agriculture, this study identifies rural health services for Ohio farmers. This cross-sectional, descriptive study surveys key informants in Ohio at rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, health departments, Ohio State University (OSU) Extension offices, migrant clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers about the types of services available to address eight health behaviors. Key informants were invited via email and U.S. Postal Service to complete an electronic survey. After service types were identified, additional information to describe format, barriers to delivery and perceived importance of the service was asked. Of Ohio’s 75 rural counties, 51 counties are represented in the data by at least one participating organization. Nutrition/healthy eating-related health services are provided most often by organizations (95.8%) and sleep services were least often reported (49.5%). The other health behaviors services (sun/UV exposure, physical activity, mental health, tobacco cessation, alcohol/substance abuse, and opioid abuse) fell in-between. Organizations are most likely to offer health education resources in print or web-based format across all health behaviors except for sleep, where social media promotion are the most common. The largest barrier to providing any type of health service is a lack of personnel. Providing health behavior services to farmers and farm families is important for improving their overall health. Documenting available services will assist the rural health community in future collaborative wellness projects.

摘要

不良的健康习惯与发病率和死亡率相关。农村社区获得预防计划和医疗保健的机会往往减少。作为一个高度依赖农业的州，本研究确定了为俄亥俄州农民提供的农村卫生服务。这项横断面的描述性研究调查了俄亥俄州农村卫生诊所、关键访问医院、卫生部门、俄亥俄州立大学 (OSU) 推广办公室、移民诊所和联邦合格卫生中心的主要线人，了解可用于解决八项问题的服务类型健康行为。通过电子邮件和美国邮政服务邀请关键知情人完成电子调查。在确定了服务类型后，询问了描述格式、交付障碍和感知到的服务重要性的其他信息。在俄亥俄州的 75 个农村县中，数据中至少有一个参与组织代表了 51 个县。与营养/健康饮食相关的健康服务最常由组织提供（95.8%），睡眠服务的报道最少（49.5%）。其他健康行为服务（阳光/紫外线照射、身体活动、心理健康、戒烟、酒精/药物滥用和阿片类药物滥用）介于两者之间。组织最有可能针对所有健康行为提供印刷或网络格式的健康教育资源，但睡眠除外，其中社交媒体推广最为常见。提供任何类型的卫生服务的最大障碍是缺乏人员。向农民和农场家庭提供健康行为服务对于改善他们的整体健康很重要。