Volume eight, Issue 2

The time has indeed come for a North American section of our journal. This inaugural editorial from North American co-regional editors, Robert C Bowman and Judith C Kulig, invites you to share their vision.

As obesity reaches epidemic proportions, new perspectives can be valuable. This urban versus rural comparison of fifth grade children does identify differences in nutrition, activity levels, and degree of obesity.

Appropriate medical care for minority rural populations requires consideration of the linguistic and cultural origins of the health workforce. This article traces the development of a 1963 Norwegian medical education initiative to provide appropriate physicians for the Sami people. Do you have an interest in the impact of medical education on improving the health indicators of First Nations or other minority rural groups? Read this article.

Community intolerance to alcohol abuse is increasing. In Australia, the new Labor government has called for greater efforts to discourage irresponsible alcohol use. But how do we measure alcohol harm in a community? If we cannot answer that, we cannot tell if interventions are successful. This paper from rural New South Wales, Australia, describes lessons from a pilot to compile data on alcohol harm from emergency departments and policy records.

In the beginning there was oral health, or sometimes limited oral health, as in the case of First Nation's children. As these authors point out, oral health problems are increasingly linked to major causes of death, such as cardiac disease. Collaborative interventions can improve oral health in at-risk children, provide important training, and connect academic, public health, and rural communities. School-based interventions can be controversial. They can also work.

The world's population became more urban than rural for the first time in 2007. Economic changes can drive rapid population shifts in nations such as Jamaica. Rural residents are perceived to have better quality of life, compared to urban residents in this most common genetic disorder in Jamaica. Patient environments are increasingly considered in health equations. Changing patient perceptions of quality of life may accompany displacements for any number of reasons involving agriculture, economic changes, the side effects of financial speculations or miscalculations, drought, or conflicts between nations, peoples, or ways of life.

What is it like to return to a workplace with a new qualification that comes with higher community expectations? This eloquent qualitative study explores the difficulties experienced by enrolled nurses who become registered nurses while working in a rural community.

Obtaining an X-ray in a small rural community where rural GPs have to also act as radiographer can be a challange. This qualitative study from Australia gives an insight into the GPs' view of this aspect of health care.

Increasing violence in youth is a perplexing problem. Those interested in solutions might just want to listen to the young people involved. Considering "bullying perspectives" is a good place to start, as illustrated by this article.

Malnutrition with its multiple morbidities is a major problem among women in developing countries - but is there also a rural-urban disparity? This study provides some evidence based on data drawn from 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

What is perception and what is reality in the area of childhood obesity? The authors explore these concepts using adolescent focus groups in four Appalachian high schools to determine influences involving the media, schools, and lifestyle factors. Differences translated through culture can make a healthy reality more challenging.

Towns, states, and nations have realized the need to be supportive to those who deliver care in rural communities where 'everyone' knows 'everything'. This can be a great concern when the subject involves newborns where 'bad things' will happen even with the best of care. Practitioners sometimes have a difficult time moving on. This work explores social and other consequences and adds suggestions for support such as Australia's Dr Doc program.

As risk factors for heart disease spread beyond boundaries of geography and socioeconomics, populations are becoming more equal regarding the impairment of heart function. These detailed data on heart failure and myocardial infarction from Maine USA illustrate variations in the rural-urban continuum as well as across socioeconomic indicators and beyond, providing clues for those hoping to improve health care outcomes.

Disappointed about the progress of interprofessional activities in rural health? This thought-provoking and practical commentary from the UK suggests a redesign of learning activities may be fruitful.

Act locally; think globally. In Norway, narratives of rural practice, funded GP research and virtual rural medical meeting places are just three of the NCRM strategies to address the worldwide decline in rural medical services.

For the 85% of Australians living by the coast, being water safe is a part of life. This culture isn't always found in the bush. This project looks at an innovative strategy for providing and implementing a water safety program.

For the 50% of rural cancer patients who must undergo radiation therapy for cancer, both access to and obtaining acurate information about that treatment is difficult. This article highlights the information gap and foreshadows action to assist rural GPs to meet this patient need.

Since 1942, Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service telemed consultations have been supported by remotely located medical chests. Read about the contents of these chests, and a description of this unique model of pharmaceutical support for remote medical practice.

Complementary medicine or therapy is very common but little is known about utilization. This brief study of CM use and access compared rural and urban Indiana populations across 20 different CM approaches with some interesting results.

The Australian government emergency response to the state of Aboriginal child health and safety in the Northern Territory has been the subject of a number of letters to the editor of this journal. This letter considers the ethical implications arising from this intervention justified on the basis of public health.

The authors of this brief letter suggest the awareness-raising benefits of oral health community education to discourage a potentially harmful habit.