Rural Health Ethics: Where Have We Been and What Is Missing?

Abstract

In this chapter, we undertake an overview of the rural health ethics literature. We identify and describe six convergences and divergences in this literature, which point to key gaps in how this field has developed to date and provide some indicators as to further areas for development. These key gaps, for us, include the relative lack of meso and macro level of analysis in rural health ethics and a need for additional conceptual development and clarity regarding the underpinnings of much of this field. Accordingly, this chapter provides a foundation for the discussion and analysis of rural health ethics that follows in this book.