S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

14

1.6.4 What is meant by remote health? Throughout the broader health literature, the concepts of ‘rural’ and ‘remote’ are subsumed within the descriptor of ‘rural health’, without any clear delineation reflecting the differences. Wakerman (2004) suggested that such delineation between rural and remote health is important for three reasons: definitions of the two terms ‘have important implications for appropriate policy development, planning and resource allocation’ (p. 210), are methodologically of importance to researchers and demographers and ‘with established and increasing use of the term [remote] by professional groups, such as the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, as well as academic agencies such as the Centre for Remote Health, it is timely to work towards a common understanding’ (p. 210). Having reviewed the literature, Wakerman (2004) posited the following definition of remote health: Remote health is an emerging discipline with distinct sociological, historical and practice characteristics. Its practice in Australia is characterised by geographical, professional and, often, social isolation of practitioners; a strong multidisciplinary approach; overlapping and changing roles of team members; a relatively high degree of GP substitution; and practitioners requiring public health, emergency and extended clinical skills. These skills and remote health systems need to be suited to working in a cross-cultural context; serving small, dispersed and often highly mobile populations; serving populations with relatively high health needs; a physical environment of climatic extremes; and a communications environment of rapid technological change. (p. 213).