Australian journal of primary health
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Comparative Study
How do rural GPs' workloads and work activities differ with community size compared with metropolitan practice?
Rural communities continue to experience shortages of doctors, placing increased work demands on the existing rural medical workforce. This paper investigates patterns of geographical variation in the workload and work activities of GPs by community size. Our data comes from wave 1 of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life longitudinal study, a national study of Australian doctors. ⋯ Our results showed that a GP's total hours worked per week consistently increases as community size decreases, ranging from 38.6 up to 45.6h in small communities, with most differences attributable to work activities of rural GPs in public hospitals. Higher on-call workload is also significantly associated with smaller rural communities, with the likelihood of GPs attending more than one callout per week ranging from 9% for metropolitan GPs up to 48-58% in small rural communities. Our study is the first to separate hours worked into different work activities whilst adjusting for community size and demographics, providing significantly greater insight to the increased hours worked, more diverse activities and significant after-hours demands experienced by current rural GPs.
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Opioid substitution therapy (OST) is a well-recognised, evidence-based treatment for opioid dependence. Since the early 1990s, Australia has used a community-based general practitioner (GP) model ofprescribing, particularly within the state of Victoria, where over 85% of OST prescribing is undertaken by GPs in community settings. Yet the majority of GPs invited to complete the required OST training decline the offer, while of those who complete training, the majority prescribe to few or no patients. ⋯ General practitioners who became regular prescribers were highly committed with lengthy general practice experience. Concerns exist about the recruitment process for OST prescriber training, where nearly all GPs decline the offer of training, and the barriers that prevent GPs prescribing after training. Action is needed to address barriers to GP OST training and prescribing, and further research is necessary to ascertain measures required to facilitate long-term prescribing.
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The Rural Research Capacity Building Program commenced in 2006 with the aim of developing research skills in rural health workers. The program was based on the capacity building principles of workforce development, organisational development, resource allocation, partnership and leadership. Qualitative methods were used to assess capacity building outcomes. ⋯ The leadership shown and partnerships developed by the program managers enhanced the workforce development and organisational change outcomes. Resources, such as backfill and incidentals, were useful for candidates, but practicalities, such as availability of replacement staff, limited effectiveness. This study showed the value of using a capacity building framework and demonstrated that undertaking research on a topic close to practice positioned candidates to drive change within their organisation.
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The Australian National Health Reform agenda includes aims to reduce health disadvantages and provide equitable access. However, this reform will be implemented through state and territory governments, and as such will be built on existing conceptualisations of health as a social justice concept (core to understandings of social determinants). ⋯ Such differentiation bears recognition by reformers seeking to implement national consistency. This paper also considers how health professionals might become aware of their own cultural enmeshment in neo-liberal frameworks of understanding, recognising a social determinants framework as counter-cultural and hence requiring radical thinking.
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The delivery of palliative care in residential aged care communities is challenging, even more so in rural areas due to workforce ageing and shortages. The objectives of the present study were to: (i) assess the needs of, and quality of palliative care delivered to residents of 16 residential aged care facilities in rural southern Australia; and (ii) identify the needs of care staff to facilitate the delivery of quality palliative care. A cross-sectional survey of all residents, assessing the degree of functional limitation, stage of palliative care, and the presence of several quality indicators was conducted. ⋯ Unstable residents with a reasonable prognosis were more likely to be transferred to hospital than terminally ill residents. Palliative care in participating RACFs appears to be adequate. Provision of targeted education for health care providers and implementation of protocols for advance care planning and end-of life care pathways will enhance this care.