Kristina Hash, associate professor in the School of Social Work at West Virginia University, has co-edited and co-authored a book examining rural areas and discussing the issues, programs and policies designed to meet residents' needs.
"Aging in Rural Places," a book designed for students and practitioners, features case studies from experts in the fields of health, social work, nursing, pharmacy, speech pathology and counseling to show how to better provide care to elderly individuals in rural communities.
"Students and practitioners need to be up-to-date on the challenges to provide the best care for these individuals," Hash said.
"I have students who say they don't need to know this because they want to work in an urban area. Sometimes urban is rural, which sounds confusing at first, but they're going to see rural patients coming in (to urban hospitals) because (rural individuals) don't have a hospital in their area."
Topics explored in the book include health and wellness, transportation, housing, long-term care, income, employment and retirement, and the needs of special populations (ethnic minorities, immigrants and the LGBTQ population).
"Aging in Rural Places" is packaged with links to podcast interviews of professionals working in the field, discussion questions, PowerPoint slides, a test question bank, and suggested activities and exercises to help readers understand the material.
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