Rural health research

Abstract

The Inaugural Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium marked a step forward for rural health research in Australia. The threshold questions for those working in rural health research and for future conference organisers are ‘What is rural health research? What differentiates it from other health research? Is it in fact just health research undertaken by researchers in rural areas?’ These questions, of course, echo the broader discussion about why the community should support research and how we can better assess the return on research investment. These are not easy questions to answer. The symposium shed some light on how the broader question of assessing research impact can be approached. Although these research papers traversed a wide range of areas from clinical, through health services delivery and onto broader policy, common themes were ‘practicality’ and ‘application’ (or knowledge transfer). The basic conundrum for policy-makers, whether national or state, is to develop programs capable of working in diverse settings with reasonable degrees of equity, efficiency and predictability. This outcome is hard enough to achieve in large urban settings, but almost impossible when applied in rural and remote locations. It is in this context that a robust rural health research sector can come into its own. Rural health researchers, by definition, should have a sound understanding of their communities: how they work; what are their real concerns; what capacity and infrastructure there is to support health services. They are ideally placed to ask the research questions that really matter – the answers to which have real consequences for rural and remote communities. To meet this challenge, rural health researchers need to be able to use the most suitable research tools. A capacity to assess the impact on communities not only of health programs, but also of broader social, economic and environmental changes, is essential. An enthusiasm for working in teams to look at big questions would seem to be a critical success factor. Compared with other countries, such as UK, Australia does poorly in assessing the impact of reforms and funding arrangements on health service delivery. A rural health research sector, properly skilled, organised and resourced, would be well placed to provide intellectual and practical leadership in this area. The Inaugural Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium demonstrated the potential of rural health research in Australia. With proper nurturing, strong leadership and community support, there does seem to be a strong future and a very important purpose for rural health research.