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@ElsevierAUS
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.