Center for Advancing Rural Health Equity

Making sure everyone has a fair shot at a healthy life

Rural health equity means that all people living in rural areas can live their healthiest lives. A healthy life includes living a life free from discrimination and unfair treatment. It also means having access to:

• Healthcare and social services
• Safe neighborhoods and places to live
• Reliable transportation
• Healthy foods
• Working wages that support basic needs
• Community policies that are fair to all people

Dartmouth Health launched the Center for Advancing Rural Health Equity (CARHE) in 2022 to help foster partnerships and programs to make sure everyone has a fair shot at a healthy life, no matter who they are or where they live.

What is rural healthcare?

Rural healthcare is the healthcare available to people living in rural areas. Rural residents typically have to travel longer distances for emergent and specialty care and have poorer health than those living in metropolitan areas.

What causes health disparities in rural areas?

• Rural populations are older and sicker than many populations in urban areas and have higher rates of poverty.
• It can be hard for people in rural communities to socialize and build support networks.
• People of color and people who experience barriers in our society because of their identity can find it challenging to have fair access to health and healthcare in a rural area, where the number of people who share that identity may be small or widely dispersed throughout a region.
• Our rural geography makes it hard for health systems to reach everyone who needs care.