Volume six, Issue 3

Interprofessional education in the health sciences is perceived as enhancing collaborative practice, and as a new and challenging issue for contemporary medicine. This has special benefits for resource-poor rural health care.

This journal has recently published two studies that have apparently conflicting evidence about the prevelance of mental illness in rural Australian communities. This Editorial offers an explanation for these results and suggests the necessary steps forward for further research in this vitally important area.

Rural and Remote Health has launched a new African section. This editorial discusses the implications for rural and remote health professionals.

Many rural health professionals deal with men who are retiring from active farming lives. What advice can we give them? This exploratory study emphasises the importance of planning for purpose and relationships.

Rural and remote health services rely on good transition systems wihen patients need transfer to tertiary facillities. This article describes the frustrations faced by Indigenous Australians when they need city-based care, and describes some simple solutions.

This article describes how an alcohol intervention program in a remote community came to focus on litter! Have similar events occurred in your rural community? This report opens an important area of enquiry, particularly in cross-cultural settings.

How can we provide good palliative care if we don't understand our communities' perceptions of pain relief? This article outlines the views and beliefs of Aboriginal Australians living in remote communities in northern Australia.

Cross-sectional surveys used for identifying children with disabilities have disadvantages. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) provides a cost-effective, efficient method that reflects the local perceptions of disability and involves local people, important for sustainability in resource-poor countries.

Aboriginal community controlled health services provide care to a significant number of Indigenous Australians in rural and remote communities. This article provides helpful data on the consultation profile of these practices.

Coleridge noted some 200 years ago that there was "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink." Billions of people still lack safe water. Sand filtration offers alternatives to families in hope of better health.

What does it take to keep doctors in rural practice? New evidence from South Africa provides further weight for strategic investments to solve this international problem.

In the last decade and a half there has been a significant increase in the burden of renal disease among Aboriginal Australians. Read how the Umoona Kidney Project stabilised renal function and improved blood pressure among Aboriginal community members identified to be at greatest risk.

Is living in a rural area good for your mental health? This article adds to the debate by providing Australian evidence of poorer mental health indices for patients in smaller rural towns compared to larger regional centres.

What factors influence rural women to stay locally or leave town to deliver their baby? Research by a rural practitioner in Queensland, Australia, helps us answer this important question.

How can we prepare remote health professionals to improve outcomes in chronic disease? This article describes a collaborative educational approach.

Focus on engagement, courtship, and sustaining the relationship. Live in their world, think differently, and build integrative infrastructure.... Sounds like sound advice for any developing couple, family, or group. Just happens to be sound advice for researchers regarding Building Bridges with Decision-Makers.

Interested in implementing a practice based approach to STI screening? This letter from rural Victoria documents one practice's experience.

What issues are you likely to confront in developing internet-based resources to support remote health professionals? This article from Australia may help you avoid some pitfalls.