COMMUNITY, FAMILY, AND RACE ETHIC DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH-STATUS IN RURAL-AREAS/

Many race-specific differences in health outcomes that have been obser ved in previous research have been attributed to class and race-based group differences which either facilitate or constrain health opportun ities and behaviors. These include such variables as different rates o f poverty, health insurance coverage, and access to medical care. Howe ver, these relationships have been inadequately examined in rural comm unities where minority status may be even more detrimental to health t han in urban areas, due to various constraints on access to hearth car e. We present an analysis that assesses the effects of community, fami ly structure, sociodemographic, and medical care variables on self-rep orted health status among Hispanics, African Americans, and non-Hispan ic whites in six rural communities in Florida. Community structural ch aracteristics had a significant effect on self-reported health, as did some of the measures of how respondents ''experience'' community. The se relationships held even when other sets of variables were added to the models. Family/household characteristics and sociodemographic and medical care variables were less important in explaining self-reported health status. These findings suggest that community continues to be important in explaining differences in health status in rural areas.