Presents a brief overview of four sociological theories concerning rural-urban differences: classical, determinist, compositional, and subcultural. Draws implications and applications for social workers and human service personnel. Suggests development of a typology which would include such components as theoretical orientation, roles of workers,…

Responses from 27 State offices on aging revealed 8 recurring problems of rural and small-town elderly: a need for a uniform legislative definition of rural; the need for a complete rural strategy to reverse discrimination against rural and small-city elderly; a need to streamline Federal regulations; the need for changes in the Older Americans…

Based on the 1979 Annual Housing Survey, the elderly--especially the rural elderly--are more likely than other groups to live in inadequate housing. Housing was defined as inadequate if it had one or more of the following flaws: incomplete plumbing facilities, incomplete kitchen facilities, leaking roof, holes in walls or ceilings, and exposed…

Using five key indicators of nutritional status (dietary intake, biochemical tests for circulating levels of nutrients or their metabolites, anthropometric measures, low birth weight and infant mortality rates, and food, health, and income assistance program participation rates and benefit levels), this 1-year research project identified national,…

Examines general demographic, social, and economic situation of older rural people and how their conditons do or do not differ from those of older urbanites. Contrasts migration trends, living arrangements, income, housing, transportation, communication, and health. Figures and tables provide population, residency, living arrangement, and poverty…

The differential interest costs to rural governments associated with borrowing in the tax-exempt bond market is a function of the advantageous position of several large partially rural counties and the dominance of school district borrowing in rural communities, rather than a disadvantage of predominantly rural governments. This conclusion is the…