| This pamphlet was written for persons concerned with delivery of health services to rural areas, especially in the United States. The booklet presents an overview of problems encountered in a variety of experimental projects now in operation in that country. It is hoped that these experiments will be useful to those interested in rural health programmes and the utilization of local health planning groups. Sketched are the plans for the following programmes: solo practice; the programmes of Lafayette and Gilchrist counties in Florida; Oklahoma's Project Responsibility; the Nurse Practitioner - Hope Medical Centre programme in Estancia, New Mexico; Presbyterian Medical Services in New Mexico; the programme in Lawrence County, Alabama; the Demonstration of Multi-County Approaches in Central Pennsylvania; the Rural Health Project Inc., in Southern Monterey County, California; the medex programme; Community Medical Services of the Medical Society of the State of New York; the Rural Health Associates programme in West Central Maine; and the Automated Devices project in Salem, Missouri. A common theme appears evident in each of these programmes, i.e., that community involvement is vital in research, in definition of health care needs, in planning, and in evaluation of services. |