The social behavior of the 55 million rural residents of the United States differs from urban residents and necessitates a different approach to federal and state policies promoting health care in these communities, argues Stamm (Institute of Rural Health, Idaho State U.). He presents 18 papers that are organized into three sections dealing with the assessment of behavioral needs, public health service delivery concerns, and issues related to special populations. The majority of the contributors come from the fields of social work and psychology. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)