The Challenge for West Texas
West Texas was once home to thriving communities in the boon of petroleum production, ranching and farming. While the region boasts tremendous natural resources, globalization, drought, and changing economies have resulted in serious setbacks for those industries in recent times. Still, West Texas provides a significant portion of the nation's petroleum, cotton, beef, pork and food crops.
West Texas and much of rural America demonstrate four prevalent population trends:
- The rural population as a whole is growing slowly, but its relative share of the overall total population has dropped markedly.
- The rural population is declining in West Texas counties not adjacent to metropolitan areas.
- The demographic profile of West Texas is changing dramatically.
- Declines in population are associated with factors of economic hardship that are worsening.
Rural West Texas has long struggled with issues of health disparities and being medically underserved–
a problem that is becoming increasingly significant as young people migrate to cities while the elderly age in place. Persons over the age of 80 are the fastest growing segment of West Texas' rural population.
West Texas is seeing the ethnicity shift more quickly than most of the nation. Most of the population growth experienced by rural West Texas counties has been an increase in the Hispanic population. While 38% of West Texas' total population is Hispanic, 52% of the children (0 to 17 years) are Hispanic.
West Texas is facing–in advance of the remainder of the nation–declining public health and health care service delivery infrastructure, the complex needs of an elderly population, an increasingly diverse population, and the health care and societal costs associated with the epidemics of obesity and diabetes.
All of these factors taken together call for creative approaches to preventing disease and providing access to health care in an environment of sparse resources.