Eliminating Health Care Disparities in Rural Georgia

Atlanta, GA, 2004

In rural Georgia there are many challenges to obtaining appropriate health care, particularly for those living in Georgia's so-called Black Belt, a rural area with a sizable African American population. Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) and the Morehouse School of Medicine invited listeners to hear stories of the rural poor and then visit a Town Hall meeting to search for solutions.

GPB partnered with the Morehouse School of Medicine to focus on issues surrounding rural health care in three of Georgia's poorest counties—Stewart, Quitman and Randolph—in the middle of Georgia's Black Belt.

GPB and Morehouse School of Medicine examined the health of these communities. GPB reporters told the stories of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted deseases, obesity-related health problems, ecomonic blight, rising high school dropout rates, and the lack of access to quality medical care. Morehouse School of Medicine, which is commited to training health care professionals to work in the poorest rural and urban areas, developed programs to improve conditions and create healthy communities.

GPB aired the series on their statewide radio network during the peak listening hours of morning and afternoon drive-time. The stories culminated in a Town Hall Meeting, which brought together state health policy-makers, health care professionals and community members for an exchange of information, concerns, and ideas for finding solutions.