I have had difficulty sending this directly to your e- mail address so am putting it on Family-L, also in case others want the list. This is a list of readings I circulated on Family-L last fall. Hope they are helpful to you.
Mary K. Lawler, RN, Ph.D.
I have finally culled and filed about 4 years worth of xeroxed articles that have been reposing on my office floor, and found some that might help with a rural rotation, so here goes.
1. Families in Rural America: Stress, Adaptation and Revitalization. Edited by Ramona Marotz-Baden, Charles B. Hennon and Timothy Brubaker. March 1988. This is a compilation of several articles published by the journal, Family Relations. The paperback can be purchased from the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, (612) 781-9331. If you would like to preview it and promise to return it, I'll send you my copy, so let me know.
2. Physician management preferences and barriers to care for rural patients with depression, ARCH FAM MED vol 3, may 1994, pp 409-414. By Rost, Humphrey, and Lelleher.
3. The sense of Oklahomaness: Contributions of psychogeography to the study of American culture, by Howard Stein and Gary Thompson. J. Cultural Geography 11 (2), pp. 63-91. I also have a copy of this I can xerox and send if you wish.
4. Healing the Wounds by David Hifiker, MD. This is an autobiography of his last years of practice as a rural family physician in Minnesota. Pantheon Books, New York, 1985. We have the residents read this book to get a sense of the trials, tribulations, and victories of family practice. Many of their spouses, mostly wives, also read it and say they really enjoy it. I don't know if the book is still in print but you might check with the publisher.
5. There is also a large literature out there on treating depression and alcoholism in primary care. It might be depressing to read it, but it is often the main problem for patients we see who are not "recovering" as they should. A lit search should find them easily. Also books by "famous people" who have experienced depression, like William Styron's book.
6. Medical Family Therapy, by Susan McDaniel, Jeri Hepworth, and William Doherty. Basic Books, 1992. This book is similar to the earlier one recommended but in more depth. It really focuses on the biopsychosocial approach to families with various health problems. An easy read, too.