My Rural Story | Week Nine | Janie Dade-Smith

we were all just Australians. But, there’s a way in which people think about things and do things and the way in which people think about health and their health which is quite different in rural areas compared to metropolitan areas. People in rural and remote areas see their health as illness services, in terms of actually going to the doctor for example, whereas in metropolitan areas there’s a higher proportion of people that actually present for health prevention and health promotion services because there’s more of them. So, in terms of those health beliefs, people will often present late if they’re from a rural area. There’s a much higher incidence of women havingmastectomies for breast cancer instead of coming in and having radiation because it actually takes them away from their families for six to eight weeks. Whereas, by having the surgery, you’re only away from home for probably a week. So, there’s

a much higher incidence of that. It’s a very important aspect for their health. What advice would you give to students going on a rural or remote placement? Make sure that you have done your homework before you go. Find out about thingslikethesocialdeterminantsofhealth, what is the water supply like out there in a remote area? What sorts of things do you need to know about the community? Is there a community profile, for example? Some of these things are available on the internet. You can go in and find out; is there a police station there? How many police are there? How many staff are you going to be working with? What will your roll be? Find out all of those things. What are you going to be paid? All of those practical aspects of going into a job, but, also some knowledge about working with rural and remote people.

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