Description: You can drive out of Charlottesville in any direction and within ten minutes find yourself in third-world rural poverty. Tucked into the mountainsides and hollows, this disadvantaged population is largely hidden from view, an unconscious victim of the region's scenic Appalachian charm. In 1988, local academics at the University of Virginia began pondering how the institution's vast resources could be used to improve the lives of these rural poor. The result was the Rural Elder Outreach Project, a noble experiment that for five years attempted to evaluate and provide in-home nursing care for rural elder poor in five Virginia counties.

As volunteer and observer, Susan Garrett traveled with the project's nurses, doctors, and social workers as they traversed these counties, trying to make a difference in health care and quality of life. Based on her research and experiences, Miles to Go deftly weaves larger issues of aging in rural America into a series of up-close encounters with individuals and their families. There are heartrending examples of mental illness and poverty: Mrs. H, whose husband leaves her to battle her alcoholism and dementia alone; the A family, struggling to provide care for three bed-ridden relatives under the same roof. Gracefully written, the book takes a practical look at the problems inherent in any community-based care effort, yet manages to maintain a very personal touch.

By the year 2030, there will be 64 million people in America over the age of sixty-five, twice the current number. Miles to Go raises important questions about what we as a nation can do to help the rural elder poor. Susan Garrett's experiences are made all the more bittersweet by the factthat the Rural Elder Outreach Project did not survive. This book ensures we will never look at scenic views of rural Virginia in the same light again.

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