Co‐designing community‐focused rural placements for collaborative practice

Abstract

Aims and Context As a University Department of Rural Health, we have identified recurrent areas of service need among vulnerable rural populations, specifically the need for allied health. Concurrently, we have also identified missed opportunities for deliberate collaborative practice in rural clinical placements. This paper provides a commentary on our work in progress as we work to leverage available opportunities to provide both service from and education for health profession students on rural clinical placements. Approach We developed a transdisciplinary placement model, informed by practice theory, which encompasses pre‐placement preparation, student support, host sites and clinicians, and a structured evaluation strategy. This model aims to facilitate service provision alongside of student learning about community and collaborative practice. In particular, the co‐design of the model is expected to facilitate student’s sense of social accountability and reduce stigma in working with vulnerable population groups. Conclusion This paper highlights the need for greater alignment between rural health education and practice, describes a placement model that is working towards this and showcases how this has been enacted in a remote community in New South Wales. More cross‐sector discussion and evaluation is needed to determine the implications of adopting this model more widely if service and learning opportunities are to be equally achieved, and to determine the ways in which training and service provision can be aligned with community need, as recommended in the recent Rural Health Commissioner Report.

Understanding the enablers to implementing sustainable health and well‐being programs for older adults in rural Australia: A scoping review

“…38 Collaborative research partnership approaches (e.g., codesign) involving consumers and communities have been recognised as valuable when developing and implementing health and well-being interventions in rural areas. [39][40][41][42] Such approaches highlight the importance of embedding co-production strategies during the design, delivery and evaluation of health initiatives to ensure interventions address the distinct place-based challenges and needs of rural populations. Early and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders, including community members, local leaders and health care professionals, is essential to ensure relevant and culturally sensitive programs, highlighting factors such as building relationships, defining expectations and valuing diverse contributions.…”

“…Collaborative research partnership approaches (e.g., co‐design) involving consumers and communities have been recognised as valuable when developing and implementing health and well‐being interventions in rural areas 39–42 . Such approaches highlight the importance of embedding co‐production strategies during the design, delivery and evaluation of health initiatives to ensure interventions address the distinct place‐based challenges and needs of rural populations.…”

Placement Architectures in Practice: An Exploration of Student Learning during Non-Traditional Work-Integrated Learning in Rural Communities

“…In this context, ‘non-traditional’ WIL refers to WIL experiences that do not utilise the apprentice style of training [ 29 ]. The TRPM is a WIL programme that focuses on health student placements in rural Australia and was initially developed with a praxis orientation “to increase the capacity for placements in rural and remote areas, contribute to rural workforce, develop supervisory models, and respond to community needs” [ 30 ] (p. 286).…”