With the rise of Facebook, seniors are more connected with family and friends than ever before. With a few clicks of the mouse, or a few scrolls on an iPhone, seniors can quickly see what the grand-kids are doing, or find out how other loved ones are as well.
The caveat is that seniors in rural areas may be better connected through social media, but healthcare issues are becoming more challenging. Because of the difficulty of access to affordable, quality healthcare, many seniors pay higher rates for inferior care.
Difficulties in Rural Healthcare for Seniors:
- The Percentage of retiring seniors is higher in rural areas versus their counterparts in urban areas. Due to this discrepancy in general seniors are in poorer health in more rural areas.
- Transportation costs, or accessibility to public transportation to get to the higher quality healthcare in the urban areas can be prohibitive.
- As home healthcare starts to become more of a need for more seniors in rural communities it is becoming harder to find qualified home healthcare workers, and medical supplies, because many medical care organizations are cutting overhead and letting go of some personnel that would be servicing the rural areas.
- When key services are cut when dealing with healthcare, often times rural senior citizens are the first to feel the pressure.