International approaches to rural generalist medicine: a scoping review
Schubert, Nicholas, Evans, Rebecca, Battye, Kristine, Sen Gupta, Tarun, Larkins, Sarah, and McIver, Lachlan (2018) International approaches to rural generalist medicine: a scoping review. Human Resources for Health, 16. 62.
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Abstract
Background: Contemporary approaches to rural generalist medicine training and models of care are developing internationally as part of an integrated response to common challenges faced by rural and remote health services and policymakers (addressing health inequities, workforce shortages, service sustainability concerns). The aim of this study was to review the literature relevant to rural generalist medicine.
Methods: A scoping review was undertaken to answer the broad question 'What is documented on rural generalist medicine?' Literature from January 1988 to April 2017 was searched and, after final eligibility filtering (according to established inclusion and exclusion criteria), 102 articles in English language were included for final analysis.
Results: Included papers were analysed and categorised by geographic region, study design and subject themes. The majority of articles (80%) came from Australia/New Zealand and North America, reflecting the relative maturity of programmes supporting rural generalist medicine in those countries. The most common publication type was descriptive opinion pieces (37%), highlighting both a need and an opportunity to undertake and publish more systematic research in this area.
Important themes emerging from the review were: - Definition - Existing pathways and programmes - Scope of practice and service models - Enablers and barriers to recruitment and retention - Reform recommendations There were some variations to, or criticisms of, the definition of rural generalist medicine as applied to this review, although this was only true of a small number of included articles. Across remaining themes, there were many similarities and consistent approaches to rural generalist medicine between countries, with some variations reflecting environmental context and programme maturity. This review identified recent literature from countries with emerging interest in rural generalist medicine in response to problematic rural health service delivery.
Conclusions: Supported, coordinated rural generalist medicine programmes are being established or developed in a number of countries as part of an integrated response to rural health and workforce concerns. Findings of this review highlight an opportunity to better share the development and evaluation of best practice models in rural generalist medicine.
| Item ID: | 56454 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1478-4491 |
| Keywords: | rural; remote; medicine; generalism; primary health care; |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s). 2018. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Jun 2019 23:22 |
| FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420399 Health services and systems not elsewhere classified @ 100% |
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