Do health outcomes for adults with chronic illness vary with different geographical access to healthcare services in rural, coastal and urban locations?
Greater distances to primary healthcare services and general hospitals with specialist facilities can lead to later presentation and diagnosis of cancer(Murage et al., 2019)which can impact health outcomes (survival rates)in rural areas(Mazzucco et al., 2021, Murchie et al., 2020).Of particular concern is the reduced access to primary care for older people given the older mean age and greater healthcare needs of many rural and coastal communities, and the shortage of GPs in rural areas (Sharrock, 2016).Yet there is a paucity of research on the consequences of greater access/distance to healthcare services in rural areas on health outcomes for other chronic illnesses. And no research on distances/geographical access to large general hospitals for people living in smaller coastal towns in disconnected locations. This research seeks to fill this research gap by modelling the variation in overall illness trajectories and health outcomes for adults in England diagnosed with chronic illnesses(e.g. heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, stroke) by differential geographical access and use of key health services in rural, coastal and urban areas.
