It’s More Than the Money: The Relationship Between Social Values and Demographic Change in Sustaining a Rural General Practitioner Workforce

Cheney, H; Wilson, E; Willetts, J

It’s More Than the Money: The Relationship Between Social Values and Demographic Change in Sustaining a Rural General Practitioner Workforce

Cheney, H Wilson, E Willetts, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Rural Society, 2004, 14 (3), pp. 256 - 274
Issue Date:: 2004-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Cheney, H	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wilson, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Willetts, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3975-9642	en_US
dc.date.issued	2004-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Rural Society, 2004, 14 (3), pp. 256 - 274	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1037-1656	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10349
dc.description.abstract	Historically, rural General Practitioners (GPs) in Australia tended to be male, Anglo, middle-class and in nuclear family structures, whereas the contemporary workforce demographic is increasingly female and of diverse ethnicity. Demographic trends and changing social values of university-educated professionals directly affect services in rural communities. GPs are key providers of primary health care in rural Australia. Despite the dedication of significant resources to recruiting and retaining rural GPs, a significant problem remains. This research project focused on identifying and addressing the family and personal support needs of two cohorts of rural female GPs and rural registrars, as a means of increasing retention in rural areas. In response to the complex and diverse needs articulated by rural GPs and their spouses during the project, the research team worked collaboratively with the participants to implement and evaluate a number of strategies. The project found that the strategies to address family and personal needs could be grouped into three areas: individualised strategies; strategies to do with practice restructure (predominantly aimed at achieving increased family time); and rural development strategies aimed at broader level change in the community. We argue that strategies addressing wider rural community needs (for example, recreation or children’s education) are essential and require cross-sectoral approaches; to date, these have received little attention. © 2004 eContent Management Pty Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Rural Society	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.5172/rsj.351.14.3.256	en_US
dc.title	It’s More Than the Money: The Relationship Between Social Values and Demographic Change in Sustaining a Rural General Practitioner Workforce	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	14	en_US
utslib.for	1608 Sociology	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	16 Studies in Human Society	en_US
utslib.for	20 Language, Communication and Culture	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	14	en_US

Abstract:

Historically, rural General Practitioners (GPs) in Australia tended to be male, Anglo, middle-class and in nuclear family structures, whereas the contemporary workforce demographic is increasingly female and of diverse ethnicity. Demographic trends and changing social values of university-educated professionals directly affect services in rural communities. GPs are key providers of primary health care in rural Australia. Despite the dedication of significant resources to recruiting and retaining rural GPs, a significant problem remains. This research project focused on identifying and addressing the family and personal support needs of two cohorts of rural female GPs and rural registrars, as a means of increasing retention in rural areas. In response to the complex and diverse needs articulated by rural GPs and their spouses during the project, the research team worked collaboratively with the participants to implement and evaluate a number of strategies. The project found that the strategies to address family and personal needs could be grouped into three areas: individualised strategies; strategies to do with practice restructure (predominantly aimed at achieving increased family time); and rural development strategies aimed at broader level change in the community. We argue that strategies addressing wider rural community needs (for example, recreation or children’s education) are essential and require cross-sectoral approaches; to date, these have received little attention. © 2004 eContent Management Pty Ltd.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10349