Les territoires ruraux font l'objet de preoccupations specifiques en matiere de sante : souvent consideres comme des
deserts medicaux , ils attirent de plus en plus l'attention des pouvoirs publics. La realite est complexe et diversifiee en fonction de multiples parametres. L'objet de cet ouvrage collectif est de comprendre les processus historiques qui ont contribue a faconner les relations entre les populations des campagnes, les soignants et les autorites de toutes natures. Differents eclairages permettent de comprendre les evolutions survenues depuis la Renaissance. A partir d'exemples principalement francais et europeens, mais aussi d'etudes de territoires colonises et domines, les auteurs s'interrogent sur les formes de la medicalisation a l'oeuvre dans les campagnes : presence de medecins et d'autres personnels de soins, creation de structures specifiques, relations sanitaires entre villes et campagnes, apports des campagnes au savoir medical… En definitive, c'est la notion de territoire rural de sante qui est questionnee. Des ouvertures sur la situation contemporaine permettent de reflechir a la perennite des heritages et a l'ampleur des ®evolutions en cours.

The countryside presents specific issues to consider when studying health care. Often termed medical deserts, rural areas have increasingly become a focus of concern for public administrators. Multiple parameters demonstrate its complex and diversified reality. This collection seeks to understand the historical processes that have contributed to the development of relationships between rural populations, health care providers, and various authorities. A variety of perspectives illuminate the diverse changes that have occurred since the Renaissance. Through an examination of primarily French and European but also colonial examples, the authors investigate various forms of medicalization at work in rural areas: the presence of doctors and other health care providers, creation of specific health care structures, relationships between rural and urban areas in terms of health issues, contributions by country dwellers to medical knowledge, and so forth. The very notion of health care as specific to the countryside is questioned. The status of rural medicine and health care in present times is also addressed to reflect both on continuities with the past and the scope of changes to come.