Bush Battles: The Challenges of Providing Acute Health Care in Rural Contexts in Australia
- Authors: Parker, Vicki , Giles, Michelle , Parmenter, Glenda , Higgins, Isabel , Paliadelis, Penny , White, Angela
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: The 16th International Interdisciplinary Conference Vol. 9, p. 377-377
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- Description: Introduction. In Australia, the rural health care environment is characterized by increasing disadvantage in relation to access to services and resources. Within this context, health professionals are challenged to provide what they feel is good-quality health care in a community of which they are a part. This paper presents the results of a study which aimed to • identify challenges confronting health care professionals in rural acute care settings and • facilitate interprofessional collaboration in working toward improved patient outcomes and staff participation. Method. A mixed method approach involved a consultative, participatory process. An initial survey was followed by focus groups and workshops. The target population was health care professionals across disciplines, in rural acute care facilities within one large Area Health Service in NSW, Australia. Workshops facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration to identify strategies for addressing concerns with the aim of developing priorities for practice change projects. Results. Results highlighted issues to do with staffing, isolation and communication as most significantly impacting on staff and patient outcomes. Access to resources and support services was the most frequently cited challenge. Results were consistent across professions and sites within the Area Health service. Focus groups identified a range of issues related to geographic and professional isolation, working with and apart from larger centers, generalist practice, and insufficient services and staff. Conclusion. Findings point to the urgent need to support clinicians through the mobilization of strategies that are context specific, locally based and led, but at the same time transferrable across sites.
Negotiating Intersections: Inter-Professional Practice in Rural Health Care Contexts
- Authors: Parker, Vicki , Mitchell, Rebecca , McNeil, Karen , Ahrens, Yvonne , Higgins, Isabel , Parmenter, Glenda , Paliadelis, Penny , Giles, Michelle
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: International Journal of Qualitative Methods Vol. 11, p. 750-751
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- Description: Health care in most contexts depends on teams of professionals with diverse skills working together synergistically to achieve optimal outcomes for patients and their families. The way is which interprofessional practice occurs in rural healthcare varies from that which occurs in metropolitan areas. This variation reflects the social, economic and geographic characteristics of rural communities. Further, rural workforce challenges and lack of access to resources and services are compounded by the difficulties associated with the intersection of speciality driven metropolitan models and the generalist models of care that are a feature of rural health care. This study’s aim was to examine how IPP happens in rural contexts, and to identify barriers, enablers and existing and potential models of IPP. Interviews were conducted with health professionals (nurses, doctors and allied health) in a range of rural healthcare contexts (Hospitals, GP practices, Multi-Purpose Services and Community centres) in NSW, Australia. Interview data were supplemented with document review and review of communication systems. Findings suggest that the nature of IPP in rural contexts is diverse and determined by a number of critical factors including rurality, connection to community, availability of staff, funding programs and specific interests and skills of staff. Rural IPP is characterised by a small numbers of professionals across few professions, focus on generalist practice and informal communication systems. IPP is growing in response to changes in government funding models and policy and through the establishment or strengthening of pivotal co-ordinating roles, with a clear mandate to involve other professionals and patients in decision making.