The Journal

Rural and Remote Health is a not-for-profit, open-access, online-only, peer-reviewed academic publication. It aims to further rural and remote health education, research and practice. The primary purpose of the Journal is to publish and so provide an international knowledge-base of peer-reviewed material from rural health practitioners (medical, nursing and allied health professionals and health workers), educators, researchers and policy makers.

The core business of the Journal is to:

Support rural health by disseminating rural health information in published peer-reviewed articles and other information.
Advantage our system to become self-supporting/independent.
Raise the profile of rural and remote health academics.

The Journal is committed to the accessibility of scholarly information, operates ethically (with regard to humans and animals, authorship and conflicts of interest) and upholds the integrity of scientific enquiry and publication. The authors, reviewers, honorary editorial positions and staff form the human content of the Journal and are treated fairly and with respect. All editorial, review and governance positions are honorary.

All material except some invited articles (editorials and commentaries), regularly published non-research material or news items and standing matter is reviewed by authors’ academic peers.
The journal does not accept paid third-party advertising.

Bibliographic information

Rural and Remote Health is indexed by AMI, APAFT, APAIS, APAIS-Health, ATSIROM, CABI, CINAHL, Current Contents, DOAJ, EBSCOhost, EMBASE, Informit (Health Collection), ProQuest, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Sherpa Romeo and Web of Science (SSCI, SCIE). The Journal is also recognised by the Australian Government's ERA.

ISSN: 1445-6354

Number of issues per year: 4

Impact factor: 2.0

RRH Governance

Editorial Board

Prof Ian Couper – Regional Editor

Professor Ian Couper is Head of the Division of Rural Health (Ukwanda) and Professor of Rural Health at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. A trained family physician, he spent nine years practising in a remote rural hospital in northern KwaZuluNatal province, and then 16 years working in primary care and health service development in rural North West province. He held the first chair of rural health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He has chaired both the Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa (RuDASA) and the Wonca Working Party on Rural Practice (WONCA Rural).

Dr Godpower Chinedu Michael – Associate Editor

Dr. Godpower Chinedu Michael is a graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where he earned his medical degree. He has been a West African College of Physicians-certified family physician since 2008 and holds a master’s degree in health economics. His passion for rural health and toxinology began over 20 years ago during his residency training in family medicine at a rural health centre in Zamko, Northcentral Nigeria, with a high burden of snakebite envenoming (SBE). He later became the Secretary of the Africa/Middle-East Chapter of the International Society on Toxinology (2020 to 2024), given his works in SBE. He currently works as Chief Consultant Family Physician and certified family medicine trainer at the Department of Family Medicine of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, Nigeria, where he also supervises residents at the rural health centre attached to the department. His other research interests are primary care clinical epidemiology, family medicine, and health economics.

Dr Jana V Müller – Associate Editor

Jana Müller, a physiotherapist by profession, is a Lecturer in Rural Health in the Division of Rural Health (Ukwanda), Stellenbosch University. She has a PhD in Health Professions Education and sits on the board of the African Interprofessional Education Network (AfrIPEN) and is chairperson of Rural Rehab South Africa (RuReSA). She has a special interest in rural health care and rural health professions education, especially related to interprofessional education and collaborative practice, to improve health outcomes.

Dr Olindah Silaule – Associate Editor

Dr. Olindah Silaule is a senior lecturer in the Division of Occupational Therapy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She earned her Master's and PhD in occupational therapy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research focuses on community mental health, caregiver support in mental health, and routine outcome measurement in mental health rehabilitation. Her research aims to strengthen the quality and efficiency of mental health services within communities, including caregiver support, particularly in low-resource settings. Her PhD findings informed the development of a multilevel conceptual framework for alleviating caregiver burden in low-resourced settings with strategies at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels. She currently lectures in mental health within occupational therapy at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervises research projects on various topics within the field of mental health. Additionally, she serves as an executive committee member of Rural Rehab South Africa (RuReSA), where she chairs the research portfolio.

Editorial Panel

Prof Hellen Myezwa

Dr Nzapfurundi Chabikuli

Dr Nontsikelelo O Mapukata

Adamson Muula

Nzapfurundi Chabikuli

Dr Victor Inem

Mr Moses Ntaro

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News & Events

Factors associated with low birth weight in Indonesia
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Mortality of COVID-19 patients in a community hospital in rural Poland
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Rural proofing: lessons from OECD countries
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WONCA East Mediterranean Region Conference 2025, 8 –10 May 2025, Tangier, Morocco
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4th International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2025, 16–19 June 2025, Kaurna Country, Adelaide, Australia
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CATSINaM Regional Congress 2025, 2–4 July 2025, Kaurareg Country, Waibene (Thursday Island)
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2025 Gayaa Dhuwi Conference, 28–29 August 2025, Garramilla (Darwin), Australia
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National Tribal Health Conference, 7–12 September 2025, Chandler, AZ, USA
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2025 National First Nations Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Conference, 15–17 September 2025, Gold Coast, Australia
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10th Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium, 8 & 9 October 2025, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
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Indigenous Wellbeing Conference 2025, 20–21 October 2025, Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia
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World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference 2026, 17–19 September 2026, Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), New Zealand
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WONCA Asia Pacific Region Conference 2025: Primary Care Transformation; Implementing High-value, High-quality Care!, 24–27 April 2025, Busan Korea
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9th European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM Forum), 25–27 April 2025, Grande Région
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Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network's National Rural Health Conference, 1–3 May 2025, Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand
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The Global Advanced Practice Summit: Improving Healthcare and Building Global Collaboration, 13 May 2025, online
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NRHA 30th Health Equity Conference, 19–20 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
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NRHA 48th Annual Rural Health Conference, 20–23 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
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2025 International Rural Nursing Conference, 27–30 May 2025, Arlington, TX, USA
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BC Rural Health Conference 2025, 6–8 June 2025, Prince George, BC, Canada
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4th International Indigenous Health & Wellbeing Conference 2025, 16–19 June 2025, Adelaide Convention Centre, Kaurna Country, Australia
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14th EURIPA Rural Health Forum. Rural Reformation: Meeting Wellbeing and Healthcare Needs in Rural Communities, 26–28 June 2025, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
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Rethinking Remote 2025: Scotland's Rural Health Conference
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16th National Allied Health Conference: Empowering lives, shaping healthcare, 11–14 August 2025, Adelaide, Australia
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WONCA World Conference 2025: New Vision for Primary Health Care and Sustainable Development, 17–21 September 2025, Lisbon, Portugal
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NRHA 23rd Rural Health Clinic Conference, 23–24 September 2025, Kansas, MO, USA
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2025 Health Leadership Congress, 22–24 October 2025, Darwin, Australia
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Rural Mental Health Conference 2025 (RMHC25), 5–7 November 2025, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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4th EURACT Medical Education Conference, 23–25 April 2026, Iasi, Romania
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9th WONCA Africa Region Conference 2026, 10 & 11 September 2026, Gaborone, Botswana
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18th National Rural Health Conference, 14–17 September 2026, Adelaide, SA, Australia

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