RURAL MUSTER #4
Kate Stark – Nurse Practitioner
A recent holiday to the Cook
Islands was extremely thought
provoking and reminded me
that although rural New Zealand
has challenges, we in New
Zealand succeed in providing a
rural health service that takes
into account the challenges
brought upon by being rural.
While there, my daughter
became really unwell and my
immediate thought was would
happen if she is too sick to be
managed by available services
on the island. A four hour plane
flight could make a huge
difference to the outcome. On
mentioning this to a local in
passing, her comment to me
was that they look out for each
other, and utilise the resources
available, and they never take
anything for granted. What a
wonderful mantra to live by.
The peoples of the Pacific could
teach us a lot in rural health
about
September 2017 L.O.G.I.C
utilising our services to the max
and ensuring that the people
around us are OK. Not only this,
but they take everything in their
stride, focus on what’s
important and are grateful for
every day.
Winter has been brutal to say
the least, with mother nature
showing no mercy across the
country. Rates of illness
amongst health professionals
has been higher than normal,
whether it be an outbreak of
gastroenteritis, the common
cold, or flu-like illness. Rates of
depression
amongst
rural
people remains high, and sadly
rates of suicide in New Zealand
remain one of the highest in the
Southern Hemisphere as mental
health services struggle to meet
population demand.
Accessing health care remains
key to achieving population
health
across
rural
communities. It is heartening to
see such initiatives such as
’Farmstrong’ and ‘Good Yarn’
being taken out to rural
communities as well as the work
done by RHAANZ in the rural
sector, in particular for mental
health related conditions which
can so often go unnoticed.
Stigma has historically been a
reason behind mental health
concerns not getting reported
or addressed by individuals and
groups but times are changing.
People are talking more about
depression and suicide and such
discussion has been made more
acceptable
through
the
introduction of the above
mentioned programmes. This is
fantastic progress for the health
of all rural New Zealanders and
should be applauded. We must
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