Abstract
Many people living in rural areas must travel to distant urban areas for medical care. The problems that such low accessibility to hospitals bring to patients differ depending not only on patients’ conditions but also on their family structure. This study, using a medical behavior survey of residents of a mountain area who have constantly experienced problems of hospital access, examined how family support should be conducted for medical behavior. The region surveyed was a settlement in Oguni Town, Yamagata Prefecture. Members of all households in one settlement were interviewed, with inquiries about outpatient hospital visits and hospitalization of household members, and family support for medical related activities. Results revealed that many residents went to or were admitted to distant hospitals more than about 31 km distant from their homes, but that distance did not necessarily cause problems in their daily life. The reasons were the following: 1）For hospital visits, the frequency was low and travel was less burdensome. 2）For hospitalization, patients received more support from family members living separately near the hospitals than from family members living together.
