Volume nineteen, Issue 2

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health challenge in the Solomon Islands. This article presents the results of a clinical audit of hospitalised TB patients in a remote provincial hospital and makes recommendations for the steps required to eradicate TB from the provinces of the Solomon Islands by 2030.

This is the first published study evaluating the impact of haematology point-of-care (POC) testing on acute clinical care in a rural hospital with no onsite laboratory. The study highlights the hidden costs of implementing POC systems and their associated quality assurance programs in a remote-from-laboratory context.

This study investigated the satisfaction and difficulties of the work of primary health care nurses in rural areas.

Generalism in the health workforce has been established as an important strategy to address health workforce maldistribution. Thus, to best serve the medical needs of northern Australia, the James Cook University (JCU) College of Medicine and Dentistry has a mission to produce graduates who both practise in the region, and have a generalist orientation. This study investigates the postgraduate qualifications and key factors that shaped the current career choice of JCU medical graduates, and whether JCU graduates are more likely to choose generalist careers than other Australian medical practitioners of a similar level of experience.

Public health education strives to transform and empower students to engage in policy and practice improvement. However, little is known of the nature of such change among students, especially when studying Aboriginal health and wellbeing, which may involve disrupting long held assumptions and prejudices. This paper reports findings regarding the feasibility, specificity and sensitivity of the Growth and Empowerment Measure in the evaluation of two innovative postgraduate public health electives focussed on Aboriginal health and wellbeing.

Access to medical services for rural communities is poorer than for metropolitan communities in many parts of the world. One of the strategies to improve rural medical workforce has been rural clinical placements for undergraduate medical students. This study explores the workforce outcomes of one model of such placements – the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship.

This population-based study found a significant difference in prostate cancer survival between Appalachian and non-Appalachian Kentucky. The disparity was associated with high comorbidity scores, high poverty rates, and low levels of education, rather than simply geographic location.

This research examined whether passive and active surveillance systems produce different estimates of workforce supply. Findings suggest significant differences between passive (licensure data) and active surveillance estimates. Authors identify a need for ongoing surveillance to improve identification of workforce shortages.

Recent literature has explored the health and social implications of industrial workers who are involved in a variety of long-distance-commute work arrangements. However, the role of an industrial health worker in caring for this special population of workers is poorly understood and documented in current literature.This study examined the experience of isolation for health workers in industrial settings to better inform industry and education providers.

In Australia, rural women diagnosed with breast cancer have significantly poorer 5-year survival, with variations in clinical management additionally observed. This study examined the factors that influence treatment decisions of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Patient self-management skills are an important part of heart failure management. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of nurse-led education on patient self-management and the associated clinical outcomes of rural Chinese patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). This study evaluated the impact of a nurse-led education program on patient self-management and hospital readmissions in rural patients with CHF.

Disparities in cancer outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are well reported. Some Australian Indigenous communities’ beliefs about cancer may influence health behaviours, support for those with cancer and, ultimately, treatment outcomes. This project aims to make community perceptions of cancer visible, facilitate development of resources representing these perceptions and briefly evaluate the project from the community’s perspective.

With the ability to diagnose malaria with rapid diagnostic tests, interest in improving diagnostics for non-malarial fevers has increased. Understanding how health providers diagnose and treat fevers is important for identifying additional tools to improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing, particularly in areas where access to laboratory diagnostics is limited. This study aimed to understand rural health providers’ practice patterns, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and influences on diagnostic and treatment decision making

For the past 10 years, skin cancer has remained the most frequent malignant neoplasm in Brazil and worldwide. A skin cancer prevention program run by Barretos Cancer Hospital includes educational activities and medical assistance conducted at the hospital and at a mobile unit. This study evaluated the use of the mobile unit as part of the skin cancer prevention program in remote areas of Brazil.

This descriptive study explores the patterns, costs and providers’ perspectives on patient transportation in remote Northern Canada. The authors identify potential factors associated with utilization and performance that are not fully explained by geography.

Nurses providing emergency care in rural Australia have different challenges and support needs from their urban counterparts. This systematic scoping review investigates the support needs of these nurses and makes recommendations for the future of the rural nursing workforce.

Following a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), emphasis is placed on healthy lifestyle modification by means of secondary prevention. The literature suggests Australians have difficulty within the period following a PCI, particularly the rural cohort. This systematic scoping review reports on what is known of the health behaviours of this population post-PCI.

This Clinical Case Report describes a rare respiratory complication in a young primiparous woman following a very prolonged labour in a remote community hospital.

This study reports on the case of a 40-year-old male agriculturalist who was bitten by a venomous snake and treated with antivenom.

Strongyloides stercoralis, a nematode that can cause fatal infections in immunocompromised persons, is known to be endemic in tropical Australia. This case report provides further evidence that strongyloides transmission is possible in temperate areas of Australia.

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is an extremely rare, predominantly fulminant central nervous system infection caused by the amoeba Naegleria fowleri. This Clinical Case Report describes the case of a 56-year-old man who presented to the Gold Coast University Hospital in Queensland, Australia, with rapidly progressive primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.

This Clinical Case Report provides an insight into hereditary haemochromatosis and the value of recognising the signs and symptoms for early diagnosis and subsequent treatment.

Many rural American Indians are at elevated risk for obesity due to physical inactivity. This pilot study sought to test the validity and reliability of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS) within a rural American Indian population sample. Confirmatory evidence suggests the tool is valid and reliable for use with this population, and may further the development of effective exercise interventions.

This study explored the experiences and level of awareness among Primary Health Care professionals invited to participate in a school-based intervention for safe Internet use.

Medical workforce recruitment and retention in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia have been persistent problems. Prior to 2011, NT residents who aspired to study medicine had to leave and study interstate. This article describes the development, implementation, successful early outcomes of and lessons learned from the Northern Territory Medical Program, which commenced in Darwin in 2011.