Rural Health Week 18-24th September 2011

“Achieving rural health and wellbeing – responding to a changing world”

What are you doing to celebrate?

The week aims to celebrate the successes as well as to raise awareness of the challenges involved in delivering health and care services to dispersed rural communities. Rural Health Week is designed to raise the profile of rural health issues locally, regionally and nationally by bringing together people at all levels, from individuals and voluntary organisations to health professionals and local government workers.

The Institute of Rural Health (IRH), which organises Rural Health Week, is hoping that local, regional and national groups and organisations will get involved this year by highlighting the innovative practice that they have developed to address the particular challenges that rurality and remoteness present to rural people, their communities and the services providers.

“We live in changing times, with continuing reorganisation and reductions in funding for health and care services and a greater emphasis on people taking more responsibility for their own health,” said Jane Randall Smith, IRH chief executive.

“During Rural Health Week, we would like to highlight examples of good practice and innovation in relation to delivering and accessing health services, partnership working and building capacity in communities”. We are looking for examples of people and agencies working together to cross boundaries to do things differently to improve health and wellbeing outcomes. For example, we would like to hear about examples of telemedicine and telecare being utilised to minimise travel costs for both service providers and users or different models of service delivery such a mobile service or new ways to reach out to the “hard to reach.”

As part of the week, the IRH is organising a conference on behalf of the Welsh Government at Gregynog, near Newtown on Tuesday, September 20th. The theme, “Rural Health Innovation – Sharing and Adopting the learning”, aims to highlight the innovative practice taking place as a result of funding from the Rural Health Innovation Fund, which is one aspect of implementation of the Rural Health Plan for Wales. The Plan identifies three key themes of access, integration and community cohesion and engagement. The Plan states: “Rural health cannot be considered in isolation from social, economic, transport, housing and social care matters, reinforcing the need for rural proofing and integrated planning and service delivery.”

Another major event associated with the week is the Annual Rural Doctors Conference, which is this year being held at Gregynog, near Newtown from September 21st – 23rd. Organised by Montgomeryshire Medical Society in partnership with the IRH, the conference attracts quality speakers and is attended by rural GPs and their primary care colleagues from across the UK.

All examples of good practice and innovation will be added to the www.ruralhealthgoodpractice.org.uk online database and groups and organisations will also have their activities highlighted on the Rural Health Week website at www.irh.ac.uk/rural-health-week. Messages of support and supporters and ;priority rural health issues will also be posted on the website.

To find out more or to submit details of activities for Rural Health Week contact either Jane Randall-Smith at janers@irh.ac.uk or IRH information officer Kathy Braddock at kathyb@irh.ac.uk or telephone 01686 650800.

www.irh.ac.uk/rural-health-week/