Rural and Remote Health is an open-access international academic journal serving rural and remote communities and publishing articles by rural health practitioners, educators, researchers and policy makers.

Engaging rural physicians in continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities is important, but can be challenging. This study explores and shares enablers and barriers to CQI participation by rural physicians in the province of British Columbia, Canada.

The use of community paramedics in rural communities has been expanded within recent years; however, little is known of whether community paramedics are a valid option in reducing hospitalization for specific procedures. This study assesses reduction of hospitalization for patients who underwent a coronary artery bypass grafting procedure.

Access to care is an ongoing challenge for many Indigenous peoples living in remote communities. Equitable health care for Indigenous people must be culturally safe and trauma informed, while also being accessible. This study uses a narrative approach to investigate First Nations peoples’ perspectives on the use of virtual care and the development of a therapeutic relationship in the context of virtual physiotherapy. This article offers insight into how to deliver care virtually while ensuring cultural safety, and working with the limitations of virtual care.

Cognition, physical function and life purpose constitute an important triad for functional and successful aging. The populations of many countries are aging, so increasing our understanding of experience of aging is crucial for making future public health decisions. Most studies on the experience of aging have been in urban areas but nearly half of the world’s population lives in rural areas and can have vastly different experiences from people living in urban areas. This Systematic Review describes the main characteristics and ways of aging in rural communities around the world, focusing on cognition, physical function, functionality and purpose in life.

General practice (GP) plays a vital role in delivering improved community health outcomes, particularly in rural communities, where geographical barriers, lack of transport and increased distances to healthcare services lead to poorer health outcomes for rural dwellers compared with people living in urban areas. In Ireland, approximately 1 in 3 people live in rural areas and only 7% of rural people live within walking distance of the nearest GP clinic. It has been forecasted that by 2031, there will be a 46% increase in demand for primary care services across Ireland but the number of rural Irish GPs has been decreasing over the past two decades. This Original Research study explores the distribution of GP clinics among rural and urban populations in the Mid-West of Ireland and the impact on new travel distances if GP clinics were individually closed across the region.