The number of rural health care providers is insufficient to meet the nation's needs, since it is difficult to attract and retain providers (Chamberlain, 2011; Ross, 2013). Rural residents experience multiple health disparities including economic constraints, cultural and educational differences, and isolation, which restrict a healthy life (Winters & Lee, 2013). Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are a...

Thank you. It is an honor to be here and asked to share some thoughts on the future of rural health and rural health policy. The future of rural health – that has a daunting and imposing sound to it. I am a little too much of a rural North Dakota farm boy – even after all these years – to think to myself or to imply to you that I have the answers to what the future will be or even should be. Ho...

The use of information and telecommunication technologies has expanded at a rapid rate, which has a strong influence on healthcare delivery in many countries. Rural residents and communities, however, often lack easy access to healthcare services due to geographical and demographical factors. Telepharmacy, a more recent concept that refers to pharmaceutical service provision, enables healthcare...

INTRODUCTION The views of health managers and physicians working in non-metropolitan areas of Western Australia (WA) were sought about which telehealth services are most needed. METHOD Chief executives and nurse managers of rural hospitals were sent a simple, open-ended questionnaire and asked to consider the current health situation and problems in their area, and to list the four most-neede...

OBJECTIVE To describe the reasons for encounter (RFE) at the casualty department of a small rural hospital and to highlight the value of the hospital to the community, and to health care workers, medical educators, and policy makers. SETTING A small South Australian rural town with a population of about 4500 served by a 50-bed hospital that provides a 24 hour casualty service manned by the lo...

CONTEXT Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem that affects people across the entire social spectrum. However, no previous population-based public health studies have examined the prevalence of IPV in rural areas of the United States. Research on IPV in rural areas is especially important given that there are relatively fewer resources available in rural areas for the preven...

PURPOSE This article describes a strategy for rural providers, communities, and policy makers to support or establish accountable care organizations (ACOs). METHODS ACOs represent a new health care delivery and provider payment system designed to improve clinical quality and control costs. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes contracts with ACOs a permanent option under ...

Access to well trained and motivated health workers is the major rural health issue. Without local access, it is unlikely that people in rural and remote communities will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Studies in many countries have shown that the three factors most strongly associated with entering rural practice are: (i) a rural background; (ii) positive clinical and edu...

Health promotion is aimed at the reduction of the differences in society's access to factors determining the frequency of occurrence of pro-health behaviours. This means the construction of health resources and increase in the level of egalitarianism in access to these resources. Health education carried out on a high level in rural schools provides actual possibilities for gaining these resour...