Rural health

Context: There is a scarcity of early palliative care interventions to support family caregivers of persons with advanced cancer living in the rural Southern U.S. Objective: The objective of this study was to adapt the content, format, and delivery of a six session, palliative care, telehealth intervention with monthly follow-up for rural family caregivers to enhance their own self-care and caregiving skills.

Aim: In India, owing to cultural norms and a lack of formal long-term care facilities, responsibility for care of the older person falls primarily on the family.

The author comments on the limited access to Australian mental health care particularly in rural and remote settings. He cites an article by Alexander and Fraser which reports that poor access to specialists and mental health services in some rural settings prevents patients from being treated by their general practitioners. Due to this, the large burden of care falls to families and informal carers. Recommendations on how to improve access to mental health services are also discussed.

Aim: To explore the use of community and dementia-specific services by informal carers caring for someone with dementia in a rural setting.

Methods: Carers of people with dementia were recruited through a variety of rural community services and invited to complete a survey related to the utilisation of community services.