Rural migration and health care: A review of the literature

This literature study focuses on possible links between access

to health services and migration in rural areas. Why do people

move to or from rural areas or why do they stay? What determines

where people settle? And, in this context, do local health

care services play an important or minor role, or no role at all?

First, the paper reports on key findings from rural migration

studies, in order to shed light on two migration trends: urbanization

and counter-urbanization. Then we take a closer look on

settlement preferences in rural areas, including the impact of

health care facilities. Finally, we end up with a more deepgoing

review of the relatively small number of studies, which

explicitly deal with settlement preferences related to access to

health care.