Australian Journal of Rural Health

INTRODUCTION: Indigenous children may be at higher risk of being misdiagnosed with speech-language difficulties due to Eurocentric practices in health care and education. The use of conventional speech pathology assessment practices contributes to inappropriate disorder identification, further stigmatising a vulnerable population. Few resources are available for speech pathologists, which examine the cultural and linguistic relevance of assessments for this population. OBJECTIVE: To provide important features for speech pathologists to account for when building assessment plans for Indigenous children...

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BACKGROUND: The predicted rise in weather-related disasters indicates that many Australian children and their families will be affected by these events in the future. Play therapy, an emerging profession in Australia, may provide valuable support to children exposed to these events. METHODS: A scoping review was designed to map the existing literature and the role of the play therapist in supporting children (aged 3-12 years) and families following natural disasters, and to formulate a model to guide play therapists in the future...

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers and facilitators contributing to the successful implementation of the allied health assistant role in private disability practice to better meet population needs. DESIGN: A qualitative case study. SETTING: This study was completed with staff working in private disability practices in a regional context in the Northern Territory. PARTICIPANTS: Eight participants were interviewed, including three allied health assistants, three allied health professionals, and two managers with allied health backgrounds...

INTRODUCTION: Western Australia (WA) spans a large, sparsely-populated area of Australia, presenting a challenge for the provision of Emergency Medical Service (EMS), particularly for time-critical emergencies such as out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of rurality on the epidemiology, incidence and survival of OHCA in WA. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of EMS-attended OHCA in WA from 2015 to 2022...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions on general practice trainees interdependent learning, from the perspectives of trainees and the whole of the practice team. SETTING: Four rural general practices in Queensland that continued to supervise registrars, junior doctors and medical students through the pandemic. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-three members of the general practice teams, including general practitioners, practice managers, receptionists, practice nurses, registrars, junior doctors and medical students...

OBJECTIVE: Identify barriers and enablers for remote Tasmanians participating in bowel cancer screening through the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. SETTING: A small remote Tasmanian community. PARTICIPANTS: Tasmanian remote community members aged 50 years and over. DESIGN: A qualitative study conducted 16 semi-structured interviews. Two researchers conducted in-person and telephone interviews. Questions were directed by an interview guide developed using the Theoretical Domains Framework for behaviour change and Behaviour Change Wheel...

OBJECTIVE: Globally, most doctors train and work in metropolitan areas but a key strategy for developing the rural health workforce is expanding rural training. The aim of this study was to describe the scope and quality of learning along with skill acquisition of GP trainees based in regional, rural, and remote settings. SETTING: Regional, rural and remote settings in Queensland Australia excluding Brisbane. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-seven general practice trainees who had undertaken their first community placement were recruited from regional, rural and remote learning settings within Queensland...

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OBJECTIVE: To understand the motivations of champions who worked to bring about system and practice change that supported routine screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) in two rural emergency departments (EDs). INTRODUCTION: Practice changes are required to achieve routine and effective identification and response to IPV. Nurses play a significant role in affecting such practice change. This paper identifies the motivations of champions in the ED setting who successfully brought about such change...

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INTRODUCTION: Disparities in the health of Indigenous people and in the health of rural populations are well described. University Departments of Rural Health (UDRHs) in Australia are federally funded under a program to address ongoing challenges with health workforce distribution for rural and remote areas. They have a significant role in research in regional, rural and remote areas, including research related to Indigenous health. However, a comprehensive analysis of their contributions to original Indigenous health related to Indigenous health is lacking...

OBJECTIVE: There is a shortage of nurses, Aboriginal Health Practitioners, GPs and other staff in remote Australian health clinics. There is also high turnover of staff, leading to questions of 'who' is appropriate for remote First Nations practice? The aim of this paper was to identify the characteristics of staff who are likely to work well in remote First Nations settings, from the perspectives of remote health practitioners. DESIGN: This is a qualitative study involving content analysis of interviews...

OBJECTIVE: To measure compliance with Advance Care Directives (ACDs) for decedents in a rural setting. DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional medical records audit comparing requests in ACDs with actual outcomes. SETTING: Rural Australian coastal district. PARTICIPANTS: People who had an ACD, died during the study period (30 May 2020 to 15 December 2021) and participated in a local research project. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Compliance was measured by comparing stated requests in the ACD with outcomes recorded in medical records...

OBJECTIVE: This qualitative descriptive study draws on data collected from a sub-sample of 15 women participating in a national study (n = 60) exploring the breast cancer screening motivations and behaviours of women aged ≥75 years. The study aimed to understand why women living in rural and remote areas might continue accessing mobile breast cancer screening despite being outside the targeted age range. SETTING: Settings ranged from large towns to very remote communities (according to Monash Modified Model (MMM) classification 3-7) where BreastScreen Australia mobile screening services were available...

OBJECTIVE: Rural unpaid caregivers experience different opportunities and challenges than their urban counterparts. Our aim was to understand rural unpaid caregivers' experiences of challenges and opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand. SETTING: Rural northern New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 10 unpaid rural caregivers, most supporting an older person living with dementia. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design...

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OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of clinician and management stakeholders involved in a rural/metropolitan collaborative mental health disaster response to the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires in the Snowy Valleys region of southern New South Wales (NSW), Australia. SETTING: A mental health and drug health service in the Snowy Valleys region of rural NSW in collaboration with a mental health service from metropolitan Sydney, NSW. PARTICIPANTS: Mental health clinicians and managers from a rural health district (n = 6) and a metropolitan health district (n = 8) involved in a collaborative disaster response to the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire disaster in the Snowy Valleys region of southern NSW, Australia...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between place of origin and principal place of practice (PPP) of domestic Tasmanian health graduates who received end-to-end training with the University of Tasmania (UTAS). METHODS: The 2022 PPP for all UTAS domestic Tasmanian graduates from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, psychology, medical radiation science and paramedicine between 2011 and 2020 was identified using the online Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) registration database...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.