THE AVAILABILITY OF HEALTH-CARE RESOURCES FOR ELDERS LIVING IN NONMETROPOLITAN PERSISTENT LOW-INCOME COUNTIES IN THE SOUTH

The purpose of this study was to determine if elders living in nonmetr opolitan persistent low-income counties in the South had the same volu me of health care resources available to them as did their counterpart s who lived in of her counties of the same size either inside or outsi de the region. Nine indicators of the availability of health care reso urces were examined: five reflected the availability of key health car e personnel (i.e., physicians and nurses) and four measured the bed ca pacity of two types of health care facilities (i.e., hospitals and nur sing homes). Results indicated that in 47 of 54 comparisons (87.0%), n onmetropolitan persistent low-income counties in the South had fewer h ealth care resources available for their elderly residents than did ot her places the same size inside or outside the region. The largest dis crepancies occurred in the availability of medical specialists, but su bstantial differences also were observed in the availability of the to tal number of physicians, physicians practicing family medicine, nurse s, and the bed capacity of both hospitals and nursing homes. Three act ions to improve the availability of health care resources for elders w ho reside in these economically depressed settings are discussed creat e state-bared incentives to attract health core providers to practice in such places; increase the capacity for local health planning; and, define and implement a linked system of tiered services for older pers ons.