Addressing Rural Healthcare Access Disparities through Giving:
Using the Design Thinking Model to Explore New Philanthropic Opportunities

Executive Summary

While 19 percent of the U.S. live outside urban areas, people in rural America consistently exhibit higher rates of negative health outcomes, such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. These disproportionate outcomes speak to challenges in health care access that can be contributed to distance, health care professional shortages, and other infrastructure challenges.

In this report, we examine rural America, health disparities in rural communities, and make recommendations for positively impacting these communities through design thinking and philanthropic investment.