Grace Wang Studies Healthcare Access in Rural North Carolina

Headshot of Grace Wang
Photo of Grace Wang with two other individuals in front of sign for Pamlico County Health Department

Pamlico County in eastern North Carolina has no hospital, no urgent care, and no medical specialists. To investigate ways to improve health access in this rural area, sociology and global health major Grace Wang worked with the Pamlico County Health Department during summer 2025.  


Wang helped design and implement a survey to collect data on the effectiveness and sustainability of telehealth services. She also interviewed patients to better understand how rural community members handle physician shortages and limited healthcare infrastructure. Wang states that she grew as a researcher and human being during this project. Living and working alongside rural community members helped Wang understand how patients could directly benefit from data collection and analysis. Wang reflected,

"The kindness, resiliency, and closeness of rural communities is hard to put into words. It has been an honor to work and live alongside such incredible people." 


 

Photo of Grace Wang giving presentation in front of white screen.

Community partners are now using data from this 8-week project to plan, evaluate, and apply for funding new rural healthcare initiatives.  In addition, Wang continued her research into institutions that impact rural residents’ health during her Fall 2025 sociology research methods course.

In her mixed-methods research project for SOCIOL 332, Wang examined why the relationship between physical activity, food insecurity, and obesity varied across rural and urban areas.  She analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and found that lack of exercise and fast-food consumption are more common in rural areas.  This was explained, in part, by rural respondents’ lack of nearby recreational facilities and nutritious food options.


To gain interpretive insight, Wang interviewed rural residents about their physical environments, food consumption, and physical activity. In-depth personal narratives revealed how spatial characteristics shape access to services, which in turn influence health-behaviors and outcomes. In Spring 2026, Wang will continue her research into rural healthcare.