Ideas for Connecting Rural Communities

Rural pharmacy closures: implications for rural communities.

Retail pharmacies provide essential services to residents of rural areas and serve many communities as the sole provider of pharmacist services. Losing the only retail pharmacy within a rural community (census designated city), and within a 10 mile radius based on driving distance ("sole community pharmacy"), may affect access to prescription and over-the-counter drugs and, in some cases, leave...

Connecting Corresponding Identities across Communities

One of the most interesting challenges in the area of social computing and social media analysis is the so-called community analysis. A well known barrier in cross-community (multiple website) analysis is the disconnectedness of these websites. In this paper, our aim is to provide evidence on the existence of a mapping among identities across multiple communities, providing a method for connect...

Rural Grocery Stores: Ownership Models That Work for Rural Communities

Developing Entrepreneurial Rural Communities

Rural communities in the United States have diversified and their dependence on agriculture has decreased substantially. In the 1980s, rural deindustrialization occurred and rural areas continued to become more service oriented: employment opportunities declined because of shifts in the world and U.S. economies, and anti-rural public policies. In response, some rural communities have become ent...

Ten ideas for building a strong Australian rural health system.

This commentary was written to generate ideas and provoke debate about priorities for rural health, in advance of the Australian National Rural Health Alliance 2009 conference. The conference will doubtless be packed with highlights as together we reflect on 20 years’ successes and failures in the rural and remote health sector under the conference theme: ‘ celebrating the sector’. Another key ...