In the current health care environment, researchers are asked to share meaningful results with interdisciplinary professional audiences, concerned community members, students, policy makers, planners, and financial officers. Emphasis is placed on effective health care outcomes and evidence, especially for underserved and vulnerable populations. Any research strategy that facilitates the clear, accurate communication of findings and voices will likely benefit groups targeted for intervention with scarce resources. In this example, matrix analysis contributes to the display, interpretation, pragmatic evaluation, and dissemination of findings in a study of rural elders. The author proposes matrix analysis as a strategy to advance knowledge and enhance the development of evidence in qualitative research.

In the current health care environment, researchers are asked to share meaningful results with interdisciplinary professional audiences, concerned community members, students, policy makers, planners, and financial officers. Emphasis is placed on effective health care outcomes and evidence, especially for underserved and vulnerable populations. Any research strategy that facilitates the clear, accurate communication of findings and voices will likely benefit groups targeted for intervention with scarce resources. In this example, matrix analysis contributes to the display, interpretation, pragmatic evaluation, and dissemination of findings in a study of rural elders. The author proposes matrix analysis as a strategy to advance knowledge and enhance the development of evidence in qualitative research.

This article reports the findings from a recent study of older adults in the rural southwestern United States and discusses practice and research implications. The aim of the study was to analyze health disparities and strengths in the contexts of rurality, aging, a depressed economy, and limited health resources. Identified themes needing action included sustained access to prescriptions, transportation solutions for older adults in isolated communities, inadequate access to care, poor infrastructure and coordination of services, scarce assisted living and in-home care for frail older adults, and barriers related to culture, language, and economics.

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The elderly population in rural communities is growing. Rural populations generally experience excessive deficiencies in health care access, social services, and other goods and services needed for healthy living. An ethnographic study of multicultural elderly participants from a rural county in New Mexico was completed to explore the participants' definitions of health, health care perceptions, and health care needs. Several key issues regarding health care were identified, including the escalating cost of prescriptions, limited access to primary health care and specialty care, and social isolation and loneliness. However, despite these limitations, existing strengths and assets were also identified: elders' knowledge about sustaining health in austere conditions and caring for the sick using simple measures; an existing group of dedicated professional nurses applying their own and others' knowledge to the challenge of health care; and a preexisting community-based action group working to decrease fragmentation of services, streamline delivery of services, and work with legislators on funding priorities. Building on these strengths can provide the keys to the puzzle of transforming the current health care environment and improving inadequate health care for these elderly rural community members.