Rural Health
Eighteen percent of America's population live in rural areas comprising 84% of the nation’s lands. Rural residents have higher poverty rates, include a larger percentage of elderly, tend to be in poorer health, have fewer doctors, hospitals, and other health resources, and face greater difficulties getting to health services than their urban brethren.
By comparison, 54% of Mississippi’s population is rural. More than half of our doctors practice in four urban areas and all or part of our 82 counties are considered to be medically underserved. The rural nature of our state contributes to an uneven distribution of health care resources and impacts the level of health of our residents.
Publications
News
A Mississippi State University Extension Service specialist was recently reelected to the National Board of Public Health Examiners board of directors. Initially elected in 2020, David Buys, Extension health specialist and associate professor in the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, will now serve a second two-year term.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- The rollout of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers more hope to individuals dealing with mental-health-related distress. That population includes farmers and farm workers, who are among those most at risk for suicide and mental health distress.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, male agricultural workers have the fourth highest suicide rate among men in all industries.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- For Nathan Casburn, the land that has been in his family since the early 1900s is now more than simply his workplace.
The Tallahatchie County farm is a place of healing from an opioid addiction that began with pain medication prescribed after he was in a car accident during high school.
Casburn explained in a miniseries titled “On the Farm” that one of the biggest hurdles in his recovery was “saying I can’t do this on my own, and I need help with this.”
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service is promoting a free water sampling campaign in seven Mississippi Delta counties.
Water samples will be analyzed for coliform bacteria and metals. Any Mississippi resident with a private well is eligible to participate. Test kits and detailed sampling instructions will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Participants can pick up sampling bottles April 26 to May 10 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the following MSU Extension county offices:
While National Rural Health Day is celebrated Nov. 18, the Mississippi State University Extension Service works daily to build and maintain this personal and community-level commodity.
Success Stories
When Carey Williams decides he’s going to do something, he relies on patience, work ethic, and tenacity to find a way to get it done.
Extension destigmatizes mental health issues, one conversation at a time
When Colby Hardin first started working at the Arkansas Department of Corrections dairy farm, he prepared as if going to war.
Rural Medical & Science Scholars program provides insight, courage for careers
Zoe Fokakis is on her way to realizing her dream of becoming a physician scientist. That dream was partly fueled by her participation in the Rural Medical & Science Scholars program.
Extension food pantry serves rural community
On Tuesdays and Thursdays before lunch, Robert Jamison is usually exercising with people who have been his neighbors in Lambert for 30 years. The Quitman County Veterans Service Officer also volunteers for a food pantry there that serves about 800 local families every other month. The county does not have a grocery store, but the pantry, since it opened in 2014, has helped people in need.
Extension medical program offers career insights
He delayed his journey to become a doctor, but Johnny Lippincott has been intrigued by the field since childhood.
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