Rural Health Status: What Do Statistics Show That We Don’t Already Know?

Abstract

Arguably the policies and programs designed to bring about improvements in the health status of rural and remote residents have been limited by the absence of systematic statistical data about health status and its relationship with place of residence. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare addresses this problem in the recent report Health in rural and remote Australia. The report compares the health status, health risk factors and preventative measures, and health resources for rural, remote and urban areas. The data highlights that people in rural and remote areas of Australia have poorer health status than their metropolitan counterparts on several counts. While further work is required, the report provides a useful and important basis for identifying and monitoring the pattern of health status and resource availability in rural and remote Australia.

Normalization behaviours of rural fathers living with chronically-ill children: an Australian experience

“…The impact of rurality An absence of a universally agreed upon definition of the term 'rural' is evident throughout the literature (FitzGerald et al, 2001;Humphreys, 1998Humphreys, , 1999. Humphreys believes there is no single rural Australia, rather that rural Australia similar to metropolitan areas consists of 'a complex mosaic of activities and communities differentiated on the basis of geographic, economic, environmental and socio-demographic characteristics ' (1998: 4).…”

Developing primary health clinical teams for public oral health services in Tasmania

“…25,26 Geographic isolation and problems with access to care, shortage of health care providers and services, socio-economic disparities, significant Indigenous health issues, greater exposure to injury, poorer road quality, and small, sparsely distributed populations are increasingly being recognized as concerns influencing the delivery of health services in rural and remote areas. Whilst the bulk of Tasmania's population of 472 725 is not located in the capital city, with the State's population resident in Hobart stabilizing at around 41 per cent, 27 road distance and quality of roads are not major obstacles of living in Tasmania.…”

National health workforce in discrete Indigenous communities

“…16,17 However, access to the spectrum of primary health care professionals is not as extensive. Around 6% of people had little or no access at all to a nurse or doctor, but many more did not have daily, fortnightly or even monthly access to these central members of the primary health care team.…”