The IRH has published its Manifesto for rural health and well being, which identifies the priority issues that need to be addressed. The Manifesto covers four main areas that impact on rural health and wellbeing: Equality of health and social care provision; The patients perspective; Public health, health promotion and wellbeing; A healthy environment; Community capacity.
The research undertaken by IRH to support the development of the Rural Health Plan in Wales has now been published and accompanies the publication of the consultation document "Rural Health Planning - Improving service delivery across Wales".
The IRH project sought to answer the following three questions:
Information was collected through a review of published data, a review of the literature and a review of examples of good practice.
Internationally there has been an interest in under-graduate medical education in rural areas for several decades prompted by challenges in recruiting and retaining rural doctors. In the UK initiatives to provide rural exposure during under-graduate training are relatively new.
The aim of this study has been to explore the potential opportunities and barriers to developing a rural element to the new under-graduate medical curriculum at Keele.
The IRH has spent a year studying what impact the natural environment - everything from allotments, urban parks, woodland and lakes to the countryside, mountains, rivers and sea - has on health and wellbeing. The research show that the natural environment can play a key role in improving public health and wellbeing.