Rural and Remote Health is an open-access international academic journal serving rural and remote communities and publishing articles by rural health practitioners, educators, researchers and policy makers.

In Canada, an estimated 20% of the population experiences a mental health and/or substance use (MHSU) disorder, such as generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, in any one year. People living in rural regions tend to have disproportionately higher rates of mental health challenges, poorer mental health outcomes and a higher risk of a fatal toxic drug poisoning compared with urban areas. Compounding these inequities, MHSU services may be absent, difficult to access, or inadequate in rural areas. Although literature reviews have been conducted on rural nursing (ie. on rural health nursing research, rural continuing nursing education, and evidence-based practice and rural nursing), less attention has been paid to rural MHSU nursing. This Scoping Review examines the rural MHSU nursing literature.

Engaging rural physicians in continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities is important, but can be challenging. This study explores and shares enablers and barriers to CQI participation by rural physicians in the province of British Columbia, Canada.

Clinical guidelines recommend pulmonary rehabilitation for the management of the long-term effects of critical illness associated with COVID-19. It has been reported that supervised pulmonary rehabilitation programs improve lung function, exercise capacity, and exertional dyspnea in patients with severe (requiring hospital treatment) or critical (requiring admission to an intensive care unit and even ventilation) COVID-19. Although in-person rehabilitation services proved difficult to provide during the pandemic owing to health system overload, telerehabilitation emerged as having great potential to stop this gap. The lessons about telerehabilitation learned during the COVID-19 pandemic are also likely to benefit rural patients, for whom in-patient rehabilitation can also be challenging owing to inequities in healthcare access because of workforce maldistribution and distances to clinics. This Original Research article compares the long-term results of different types of telerehabilitation programs on hemodynamic and clinical parameters associated with exertion and physical functions in discharged COVID-19 patients.

Access to care is an ongoing challenge for many Indigenous peoples living in remote communities. Equitable health care for Indigenous people must be culturally safe and trauma informed, while also being accessible. This study uses a narrative approach to investigate First Nations peoples’ perspectives on the use of virtual care and the development of a therapeutic relationship in the context of virtual physiotherapy. This article offers insight into how to deliver care virtually while ensuring cultural safety, and working with the limitations of virtual care.

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The primary care team at the local GP clinic serves as a first point of healthcare contact for rural communities in Ireland, but changes in financial supports to GP practices in 2010, and a history of structural urbanism, resulted in many rural general practices struggling for viability. This Policy Report presents a brief account of advocacy led by rural GPs and their communities in Ireland, and the political and policy implications of their efforts.

Cognition, physical function and life purpose constitute an important triad for functional and successful aging. The populations of many countries are aging, so increasing our understanding of experience of aging is crucial for making future public health decisions. Most studies on the experience of aging have been in urban areas but nearly half of the world’s population lives in rural areas and can have vastly different experiences from people living in urban areas. This Systematic Review describes the main characteristics and ways of aging in rural communities around the world, focusing on cognition, physical function, functionality and purpose in life.

Cognição, função física e propósito de vida constituem uma importante tríade para um envelhecimento funcional e bem-sucedido. As populações em muitos países estão envelhecendo, portanto, aumentar a compreensão da experiência de envelhecer é crucial na tomada de decisões futuras em saúde pública. A maioria dos estudos sobre a experiência de envelhecer é de áreas urbanas, entretanto, cerca de metade da população mundial vive em áreas rurais e pode ter experiências muito diferentes das populações urbanas. Esta revisão sistemática descreve as principais características e modos de envelhecer em comunidades rurais ao redor do mundo, com foco na cognição, função física, funcionalidade e propósito de vida.

La cognición, la función física y el propósito de vida constituyen una tríada importante para un envejecimiento funcional y exitoso. Las poblaciones de muchos países están envejeciendo, por lo que aumentar nuestra comprensión de la experiencia del envejecimiento es crucial para tomar futuras decisiones de salud pública. La mayoría de los estudios sobre la experiencia del envejecimiento se han realizado en áreas urbanas, pero casi la mitad de la población mundial vive en áreas rurales y puede tener experiencias muy diferentes a las de las personas que viven en áreas urbanas. Esta Revisión Sistemática describe las principales características y formas de envejecimiento en las comunidades rurales de todo el mundo, centrándose en la cognición, la función física, la funcionalidad y el propósito de vida.