The Australian Government's recent decision to replace the Rural Remote and Metropolitan Area (RRMA) classification with the Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA) system highlights the ongoing significance of geographical classifications for rural health policy, particularly in relation to improving the rural health workforce supply. None of the existing c...

abstract aims: fluoride is one of the anions present in soil and water, and determining its level in drinking water is vital for preventing dental and bone diseases in societies. this research aimed to determine fluoride concentrations in drinking water sources of rural and urban areas of babol city, iran. instrument & methods: this descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in babol city,...

background : despite an increased need, residents of rural communities have decreased access to healthcare and often present unique healthcare challenges associated with their rurality. ensuring medical students receive adequate exposure to these issues is complicated by the urban location of most medical schools. health fairs (fairs) conducted in rural communities can provide students exposure...

Tim ExTNSION ofmedical care and health education in remote and sparsely populated rural areas has now become one of the main objectives in the plans for the development of health services throughout the world. Rural health services are receiving, deservedly, a high place in the order of priorities of development planning.1'2 In some countries rural health schemes have already been successfully ...

CONTEXT Throughout its history, the main problem for Thailand's health system in has been an inadequate number of physicians and other healthcare workers in rural areas. Due to this, for decades in Thailand, rural service has been mandatory for healthcare workers. ISSUE Thailand's mandatory health service system commenced in 1889 and has been continuous until the present (2010). Under this sy...

In resource-poor countries, substantial sums of money from governments and international donors are used to purchase equipment for health facilities. WHO estimates that 50-80% of such equipment remains non-functional. This article is based on experience from various projects in developing countries in Asia and Africa. The key issues in the purchase, distribution, installation, management and ma...

Rural hospitals continue to face the threat of closure. Congress passed legislation in 1989 and 1990 to offer an alternative for small rural hospitals; the legislation encourages hospitals to form networks comprising an essential access community hospital (EACH) and one or more rural primary care hospitals. This legislation is a tightly focused program that will affect no more than an estimated...

One commonly discussed benefit of broadband access in rural America is the potential for telemedicine visits that allow rural residents to take advantage of urbanized medical services. While the primary benefit of telemedicine is often viewed as improved health care access, the availability of these services also offers significant economic contributions to the local community. Site visits to 2...

The quality of surgical care in rural hospitals is important, as surgery remains a critical component of rural health care systems. Current models for surgical quality assessment and improvement largely reflect the characteristics of larger urban hospital settings, which include proximity to other providers for peer review, higher procedure volumes to accurately assess outcomes, and greater fin...