Developing sustainable models of rural health care: a community development approach

It is widely noted that rural populations have poor health status and are ageing. In Australia, state and national policies and programs have been instigated to redress this, but few rural residents would agree that their town is the same as an apparently similar sized one nearby or across the country. This article reports a project that investigated the way government policies, health and community services, population characteristics and local peculiarities combined for residents in two small rural towns in New South Wales. Interviews and focus groups with policy makers, health and community service workers and community members identified the needs of residents. Key findings include substantial variation in service provision between towns because of historical funding allocations, workforce composition, natural disasters and distance from the nearest regional centre.