Other Population Health Projects

Health-selective migration from rural and remote areas.

It is well known that health services are limited outside of major cities.  It is also well known that rural and remote residents are at least as likely to have acute and chronic illnesses as their city sisters and brothers.  So what do country people do when they have a serious illness?  Ann Larson explored this question with Martin Bell from the University of Queensland and Anne F Young from University of Newcastle.  Using a national longitudinal study of middle-aged women, they found that rural and remote women were more likely to move to a more populated area if they had a serious illness that caused them have frequent appointments with a medical specialist.  Rural and remote women with chronic or acute diseases they were managing without regular specialist visits were not more likely to move.  Read the full study in a paper published in the prestigious Social Science and Medicine (2004).