Council Community Directories as a Source of Information about Local Health Services in Rural Australia

Despite the existence of web based community directories information about local health services in rural Queensland is reported by service providers to be poor. A survey in four towns determined directory community use for health information. Although 60% of town residents use the internet, only 20% were aware of the existence of their town’s community directory and less than 10% used it for health service information. Existing directories are neither user friendly nor comprehensive in content. For web-based directories to become valuable sources of information about local health services strategies are needed to improve access, content and awareness. Introduction The pervading nature of information technology has reached all levels in society. The use of computers and the internet has profoundly changed the way people access information with consumers increasingly turning to the internet to obtain information that they previously obtained elsewhere. In Australia it is estimated that over 2 million unique persons or 10% of the total Australian population access the Yellow Pages online per month (Roy Morgan Research, 2006). Home internet access is increasing at a rate of 5% per year and in 2006 an estimated 72% of Queenslanders had access to the internet from their homes (The Queensland Government Chief Information Office, 2006). Health care services providers like many other businesses use the internet as an integral part of their strategy for the total provision for health. In the UK the White Paper “The New NHS: A Modern Dependable” identified the internet and digital TV as vehicles for the dissemination of health information (The Department of Health, 1997). Within Australia state health departments are developing extensive service provider databases. Four example South Australia has developed the Human Services Finder (www.hsfinder.sa.gov.au/) which is advertised as “the place to access information about health, housing, family and community services from the private, public and community sectors in South Australia”. A similar system is being developed in Queensland (www.health.qld.gov.au/13health/pdfs/faqs.pdf). These web-based directories are designed in part to replace hard copy which is frequently out of date. However health service providers express concern that state directories will not provide information at the local level (Eley and Baker, 2007). Instead local information may continue to be provided by alternative sources. Many city and shire councils have web-based local service directories that contain information about health services. These community information directories would appear to be an ideal location for detailed information about local health services. As stated in the foreword to Warwick Shire Council’s community information directory “service providers based in town have many services available to them, but often they are not well known or not accessible in a consolidated format. This directory may assist in increasing the awareness of these services and facilitate their access by service providers and users” (http://www.warwick.qld.gov.au/) The question remains as to whether these directories are utilised by the general public. To our knowledge, no surveys of town residents’ use of council directories for access to specific services have been undertaken. This study by the Centre for Rural and Remote Area Health (CRRAH) provides the findings on awareness and use of community directories undertaken in four towns in southeast Queensland. Study objectives The objectives of the study were to determine: