The Right to Health, or the Lack Thereof: Lessons from Appalachia

In this paper, we investigate relationships between rights consciousness and health-seeking behavior in health outcome-specific locations in Virginia. Using new survey data, we analyze how Appalachian and non-Appalachian women residing in geographic clusters with low and high relative risk of breast cancer incidence vary in terms of their sense of entitlement to health care. We also explore how that sense of entitlement (or its absence) is related to breast cancer screening decisions.