Unhappy partners thwart rural health

Partners of GPs worried about jobs, schools and boredom are a major barrier to addressing the shortage of rural GPs, according to new research. A study published this week in The Australian Journal of Rural Health and reported by the web newsletter <a href="http://www.6minutes.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=482422" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">6 minutes</a> conducted with partners of GP registrars in South Australia found that many had “negative preconceptions about finding employment, suitable accommodation, schooling for children, and the long working hours of their GP registrar partner.” Results may have been influenced by the fact that more than 80% of the respondents were male. The respondents worried that boredom and lifestyle/cultural differences would be a barrier to rural living, and about separating the family unit because of employment or education. “This might need to be a consideration for future change in government policy,” say the study authors. However, according to 6 minutes, "many were encouraged by the opportunity to start afresh with a ‘treechange’, perceiving rural locations to offer a quieter lifestyle, better leisure opportunities and a friendlier community, as well as a lower cost of living. The authors note that blanket statements by participants reflected limited actual knowledge of rural communities. “The findings follow another recent study by Charles Sturt University found perceptions of so-called “tree changers” to rural life were not met by reality – with up to 90% hoping to end the experience and move on. “However the study found that only 2% had researched their new area before cutting ties with city life.”

2009-05-23T04:53:24Z

2009-05-23T04:54:25Z

Partners of GPs worried about jobs, schools and boredom are a major barrier to addressing the shortage of rural GPs, according to new research.

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An online communications group has produced a comprehensive, spectacular-looking multimedia special on Australia’s drought, called <a href="http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/biggest-dry/" rel="nofollow">The Biggest Dry</a>. It contains articles, videos, interactive maps, photo galleries and opportunities for comment. It offers several in-depth stories about the causes of the drought, its effect on farmers and the environment, interviews with scientists John Williams and Julian Cribb, and a video of Aboriginal elder Beryl Carmichael ‘singing’ the river’s lament. Circle of Blue, the group that produced the documentary, is an international network of journalists, scientists and communications design experts that, it says, “reports and presents the information necessary to respond to the global freshwater crisis.” Circle of Blue is a nonprofit affiliate of the water, climate and policy think tank, the Pacific Institute. As usual with contemporary Internet-based stories, the comments can be just as interesting and informative as the stories themselves. John McLean comments on the main story that "I hope you are aware that Australian rainfall patterns seem to have simply reverted to what they were from 1901 (start of data) to 1949. It was 1950-95 that was probbaly unusually wet and yet we now consider those conditions to be normal. “The big questions are – how did country people cope with the rainfall levels of 1901-49? – What did our farmers do? – How much irrigation was undertaken? – What was the price of water relative to income? “We really need to learn more about the past so that we can make informed judgements about what we should do in future.”

2009-03-11T03:50:20Z

'The Biggest Dry' highlights drought

2009-03-11T03:55:16Z

An international multimedia documentary highlights the background and issues surrounding Australia’s drought.

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The Fresh Ideas for Work and Family Grant Program was launched by the Federal Government this week, on 1 March. This national initiative provides grants of $5,000 to $15,000 to successful small businesses to implement practices that help employees balance their work and family obligations and improve employee retention and productivity. Applications for grants are now being invited from eligible small businesses. The current funding round will close on 24 April 2009. The program aims to assist small businesses across regional and metropolitan areas. It is designed to support projects that benefit both the employer and employees, demonstrate long-term sustainable outcomes for the business and have the potential for wider application to other businesses. The program will be administered by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. As the program progresses, the department will develop and distribute business and industry specific information supporting work-based family friendly practices. From 1 January 2010, the program will also ensure experts are available in each state/territory office of Fair Work Australia, to provide support for small businesses seeking to implement family friendly arrangements in their workplace. The 2009 National Work-Life Balance Awards are also being developed as part of the Fresh Ideas for Work and Family initiative. The Awards will provide public recognition for businesses that are leaders in successfully integrating work-life balance practices while managing business demands. The Government has committed to reinvigorating the Awards, formally known as the National Work and Family Awards, including by: <ul> <li>expanding the number of available awards by offering separate awards for the leaders in various industry sectors </li> <li>funding and supporting the development of a special symbol that can be used by winners in print and online job advertisements for a period of three years from winning the award to assist businesses to attract skilled job-seekers. </li> </ul> Further details of the Awards will be announced in the coming weeks. More details about the Fresh Ideas program, including the application form, guidelines for applicants and terms and conditions, are available at <a href="http://www.deewr.gov.au/freshideas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.deewr.gov.au/freshideas</a> or by calling the Workplace Infoline on 1300 363 264.

2009-03-04T03:00:18Z

Government grants for 'fresh ideas'

2009-03-04T03:01:24Z

A new national initiative provides grants of up to $15,000 to small businesses who successfully implement ‘work/life balance’ programs for their employees.

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Reprinted from the 6 minutes newsletter: A virtual teaching hospital has been set up in South Australia to give rural doctors access to cardiologists. Dr Phil Tideman has been working on the project for the last eight years to create a Centre for Excellence in rural cardiovascular care at Naracoorte Hospital.The result is the Integrated Cardiovascular Clinical Network (iCCnet SA/www.iccnetsa.org.au), which now serves all 66 rural hospitals and is funded by the SA state government. The system gives rural medical staff online access to an on-call cardiologist 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Local hospital staff can also share ECGs and other patient data in ‘real time’ with other clinicians. Dr Tideman says the network was created in response to alarming levels of cardiac deaths in rural areas. He says overworked rural doctors often aren’t able to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in cardiology. “Increasing the knowledge base in rural hospitals, providing the necessary clinical tools and giving doctors and nurses immediate access to cardiologists was the obvious solution.”

2009-02-27T06:47:40Z

Virtual hospital for rural patients

2009-02-27T06:48:53Z

A virtual teaching hospital has been set up in South Australia to give rural doctors access to cardiologists.

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Here are links to a variety of information about the Victorian bushfires, from local and national news websites to blogs, Facebook groups and where to make donations: Local news sites: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.bordermail.com.au/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Albury Wodonga Border Mail</a></li> <li><a href="http://sale.yourguide.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The GippsLand Times</a></li> <li><a href="http://latrobevalley.yourguide.com.au/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">La Trobe Valley local news</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.thecourier.com.au/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ballarat local news</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.standard.net.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Warrnambool local news</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bendigo local news</a></li> <li><a href="http://wimmera.yourguide.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wimmera local news</a></li> </ul> For ongoing, up-to-the-minute coverage: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ABC Online</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/indepth/0,,5018723,00.html " rel="nofollow" target="_self">Herald Sun Bushfire coverage</a> (in-depth)</li> <li> Latest from Melbourne’s <a href="http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,27574,25038852-2862,00.html " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Age</a></li> </ul> <a href="http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,27574,25038852-2862,00.html " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘Sam the celebrity Koala’</a>: Sam became the most famous koala in the world when firefighter David Tree stopped to give her a drink amid the devastation. Blog entries and comments about the bushfires: <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/09/australia-bushfires-devastate-victoria/" rel="nofollow">http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/09/australia-bushfires-devastate-victoria/</a> <a href="http://australiabushfiremonitor.blogspot.com/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Australia Bushfire Monitor</a> <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/02/08/google-australian-fires/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Maps Australian Bushfires</a> Facebook Group: <a href="http://en-gb.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123686350343 " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Victoria Bushfire Crisis 2009: Australia’s Worst National Disaster</a> <a href="http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Australian Red Cross Victorian bushfire appeal</a> <a href="http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/cms/index.php?option=com_wrapper&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;view=wrapper&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;Itemid=43" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bushfire appeal for wildlife</a> Please add any other links in the comments section.

2009-02-12T07:43:56Z

Link list for Victorian bushfires

2009-02-12T09:58:17Z

Here are links to a variety of information about the Victorian bushfires, from local and national news websites to blogs, Facebook groups and where to make donations.

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Healthcare workers keen to help out with the Australian bushfire recovery program are being urged to get in touch with Rural Workforce Agency Victoria (RWAV). The organisation is now allocating medical staff to the stricken areas in conjunction with GP Victoria and the State Health Department Medical Response Organisation. Local psychologists and 60 psychiatrists from the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatry have volunteered their services to help locals affected. Those healthcare workers who want to help out are encouraged to contact RWAV at (03) 9349 7800.

2009-02-10T07:32:18Z

Call goes out for healthcare help

2009-02-10T07:32:18Z

Healthcare workers keen to help out with the Australian bushfire recovery program are being urged to get in touch with Rural Workforce Agency Victoria (RWAV).

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From Australian Doctor this week comes a report on the Rural Doctors Association of Australia’s (RDAA) submission to this year’s Federal Budget. It called for a pledge from governments across Australia to deliver a minimum standard of health and hospital services to rural communities, estimating that rural areas need an extra 1,800 doctors and claiming the Federal Government had failed to address the workforce crisis. “The government must give a clear signal that rural doctors currently working in the bush are valued and moving to the country is an attractive career option,” the RDAA said. It called for both Federal and State Governments to implement a Rural Health Obligation, which would be a statement of the “standard of access and care” that should be provided to the 6.7 million people now living outside major cities. “People living in rural Australia should be guaranteed that when they have a heart attack, are injured in a farming or road accident, or have a baby they can access health care locally,” the submission said. "In many cases we bring in foreign doctors into Australia, put them in culturally and geographically isolated settings, without any real support and expect them to thrive. “It is counter intuitive that overseas trained doctors – who possibly require the most support and assistance – are put into rural and remote areas, where they are least likely to get it.”

2009-02-02T22:09:27Z

Rural Health Obligation call by doctors

2009-02-02T22:09:27Z

Rural doctors have called on the Federal Government to deliver a minimum standard of health and hospital services to regional and rural communities

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A study showing that rural doctors have personalities that are distinctly different from city doctors could provide clues for addressing the rural health workforce shortages, according to researchers. The study by University of Queensland researchers, published in the latest issue of the <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121585402/abstract?CRETRY=1&amp;amp;SRETRY=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Journal of Rural Health</a>, found that country GPs were more likely to have temperament traits such as curiosity, impulsivenessand enthusiasm, and were more optimistic, relaxed and confident in uncertain situations than their urban counterparts. According to the doctor newsletter 6 minutes, study leader Dr Diann Eley from Queensland Uni’s Rural Clinical School, said personality profile findings could offer a newapproach to the recruitment and retention of rural doctors through a “greater awareness of traits within the workforce”. She said her work is now expanding to look at student personality profiles in order to develop self-help tools to aid this group in making informed career choices, adding that “We are now aiming to establish a more detailed baseline of traits, in order that we can determine what traits lead people into rural health and those which help to keep them in it.”

2009-01-29T07:05:57Z

Rural GPs have unique personalities

2009-01-29T07:07:53Z

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The story of the lovely lady, bringing up three very lovely girls, etc. etc. is a nice fiction, but the reality is a bit more, shall we say, uneven. An Australian researcher and a clinical psychologies are looking for people willing to share their co-parenting/step-parenting experience for a book on co-parenting stories and strategies. “What we would like to know is: What were/are the highs and lows? What sorts of skills did you need to learn to make it work? Where have you turned for help? What advice do you have for someone who is embarking on a ‘blended family’?” says Ray Welling, a writer and researcher at the University of Sydney. He’s working on the project with <a href="http://www.lynworsley.com.au" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lyn Worsley</a>, one of Australia’s leading clinical psychologists specialising in building resilience in children.  The stories will be used to produce a book of first-hand advice on surviving and thriving with co-parenting/step-parenting. Information is being gathered via a dozen open-ended questions about parents’ experience with co-parenting and/or step-parenting. The questionnaire is available at <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6BxPLe6n3e5Jre24wssBrA_3d_3d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6BxPLe6n3e5Jre24wssBrA_3d_3d</a> Ray encourages people to, “Please write as much as you can and don’t worry about style, spelling, etc. – stream of consciousness is fine and we will tidy things up in the editing process.”Participants who include their email address at the end of the survey and will receive a note when the book is completed. Any questions (or requests for a Word version of the survey) can be directed to Ray at rwel0010@mail.usyd.edu.au .

2008-12-29T23:01:13Z

The Brady Bunch it ain't

2008-12-29T23:05:19Z

Stories of co-parenting and step-parenting are needed for a new book collecting stories and strategies by parents in blended families

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Charles Sturt and Southern Cross universities have announced plans to merge and are looking to join with at least one other university in another state to create a ‘national university for regional Australia’. According to media reports, priorities for the merged universities include expanding distance education in regional areas through an increased investment in digital technology. A joint statement from both vice-chancellors (SCU vice-chancellor Paul Clark is pictured above) says the proposal is “to bring together two leading universities in professional and distance education and allow them to build on their innovation and success. The universities envisage the creation of a new national institution crossing state borders, with a specific mission to extend the boundaries of the educational experience into a genuinely digital domain.” Southern Cross University previously had a close relationship with New England University in Armidale, NSW, but there has been no mention of New England in this new venture.

2008-12-12T02:16:23Z

Coming soon - Uni of Regional Aust

2008-12-12T03:41:27Z

Two NSW regional universities announce plans to merge and seek partners in other states to form a national regional university.

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