Volume three, Issue 4

Working as a health professional in a rural community is a priviledge, but also carries certain risks. This article reveals that in Japan, low back pain is too common a problem in those at the frontline of rural healthcare, rural nurses.

Whether you are about to have summer or winter holidays in your rural community, there are perils for travellers that resident rural health professionals need to know how to deal with. This month's Journal search looks at 2003 publications from around the globe on such issues as snake bite, road trauma, alpine trauma, alcohol use and jellyfish stings. Happy browsing and merry Christmas!

Have you ever developed a great health promotion program that targets a very important need in your rural community, but when you implemented the program it had no effect? Why does this frustratingly happen again and again? This personal view from Nepal provides helpful insights from just such an experience.

At last, an academic rural health journal for Europe! This joint Editorial by Paul Worley and Christos Lionis announces an initiative that will be of value to isolated and rural practitioners across Europe, as well as to RRH users around the globe.

The delivery of allied health services to remote areas is problematic. Not only is it difficult to recruit and retain an appropriate staff mix, but communities often have unique requirements. A multi-agency initiative in Queensland, Australia, tackled the issue systematically. This unique study provides a model for service delivery on which remote and rural communities in any world region can base their own initiative.

Journal Search brings Rural and Remote Health users information about relevant recent publications. This month's highlights include contents and recent publications in rural health/ primary healthcare journals, worldwide.

Read this new research and listen to the clear voices of rural Australian youth as they reveal their key health concerns. The authors also make some policy relevant analyses, especially in regard to the access issues facing rural youth.

If mid-life women are under-represented in the literature, then rural mid-life women are rarely allowed a voice. Put aside your daily concerns for a while and listen to the wisdom in this accessible qualitative study from Canada. What the participants tell us about their lives should be heard by all social researchers.

Homophobia and discrimination, social isolation, the absence of appropriate services or information... these are just some of issues that prompted this author to explore the troubling hypothetical association between same-sex attraction and rural youth suicide.

A successful rural medical education model may receive much attention, but it takes more than a few individuals each year to impact on regions or nations. Once the original is replicated successfully, not only will others join in, but policies can encourage development of such programs. This article describes the replication process and is useful for those involved in development and evaluation of rural experiences.

Journal Search brings Rural and Remote Health users a collection of abstracts from recent MEDLINE-listed articles. This month highlights recent publications with title key words that included rural and general practitioner, nurse or practitioners.

How does being 'rural' affect people's preceptions of health? This small study provides some useful clues that could inform further useful research. Do the findings agree with views in your part of the world?