About 500 young people on Martha’s Vineyard are living with one or more of a wide range of disabilities that can limit their access to healthy recreation, according to a report presented last week.

Vineyarders need to begin encouraging more thoughtful discussion about end-of-life plans, eight rural scholars from the University of Massachusetts medical school concluded in a recent mini-study on the Island.

Reproductive health care on the Vineyard is notably lacking in education, communication and access. This was the conclusion of eight rural scholars who recently spent two weeks on the Island studying the issue.

Inconsistent data and outmoded record-keeping methods posed a major barrier to studying the addiction problem on Martha’s Vineyard.

Once again, the rural scholars program visited the Vineyard to study a pressing Island issue. This year's topic was homelessness and the housing shortage.

Five medical students spent the past two weeks on the Island studying elder care and services as part of the rural scholars program. Neglect by a caregiver and self neglect were cited as the top two types of abuse facing Vineyard elders.