The 18th National Rural Health Conference (18NRHC) put priority populations front and centre of the program. With the theme Equity and Transformation: shaping rural health, disability and ageing, every aspect of the conference focused on inclusion and ensuring a shared commitment across rural health that no community is left behind in efforts to improve their health and wellbeing.
This year saw a record number of abstracts for oral presentations, lightning talks and poster presentations. The quality was exceptional. This meant that we only accepted high rating abstracts through a peer review process. We realised during this process that the breadth of the abstract topics was so wonderfully diverse that we could facilitate tailored concurrent sessions to engage attendees on different areas of interest.
A conference attendee said this was the favourite part of the conference. It was “the balance between the meticulously chosen plenary sessions and the breadth delivered in the break-out sessions.”
“I really enjoyed hearing about the incredible work happening across Australia, learning from different perspectives and having conversations with people from such a wide range of backgrounds,” said another.
We hosted workshops that enabled attendees to take a deep dive into rural health issues affecting priority populations. For example, the workshop on disability titled, Improving disability awareness among health providers, delivered by Checkup, challenged participants to examine their own workplace and rank how it supported – or didn’t – people with a disability to access the building and services.
This was followed by a concurrent session that looked at Bridging Service Gaps for Vulnerable Older Adults in Regional WA and the Human Rights Commission presenting on experiences of ageism in health care. We had a great contribution of disability focused abstracts that enabled two full concurrent sessions devoted to disability issues in rural Australia.
A significant strength of the conference was its emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health and wellbeing. Sessions explored culturally safe models of care, Indigenous leadership, workforce development and community-led approaches to improving health. Oral presentations on First Nations women’s health and physical activity, communicating about medicines with Aboriginal people in Central Australia, and co‑designed immunisation education to strengthen health literacy in rural Aboriginal communities showed how concurrent sessions covered issues of interest to our sector.
A heartfelt workshop from the Healing Foundation enabled attendees to think deeply about Ageing with dignity for Stolen Generations survivors in rural Australia. A pre-conference workshop focused on supporting attendees to think in new ways about reconciliation. It was a small but mighty group, and we all left a little wiser and a little humbler in the journey of reconciliation.
“I found the speakers very inspiring – and a great reminder to take the time to reflect on the great work that we all do and our shared vision for improving access to health services in the bush. The innovation and resilience of our sector is to be celebrated,” said a conference attendee.
Cultural inclusion was a significant part of the conference, focusing on Indigenous health, wellbeing and workforce. We also benefited from presentations addressing the health of multicultural communities, such as Equity by design: Transforming rural health for multicultural Australia and Beyond Interpreters: Language Support Tools for CALD Patients in Rural Health Settings.
Mental health and wellbeing featured prominently throughout the program, particularly in relation to young people, farming communities, and rural residents impacted by isolation and environmental challenges. Several concurrent sessions were dedicated to mental issues of rural populations, including a session focused on Mental Health in Women and Adolescents. We also offered a session dedicated to the Mental Health Workforce, where presenters showcased models and solutions to support our rural workforce meet the mental health needs of rural populations. We took a deep dive into farmer mental health at the dedicated workshop titled, Empowering community conversations around farmer mental health.
We had terrific input from the LGBTIQA+ communities with a workshop focusing on Improving LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing in rural Australia: evidence and lived experience Workshop and other presentations, including Establishing a rural co-design ecosystem for creating safer LGBTQ+ youth primary healthcare and Exploring LGBTQ+ community-controlled mental health and AOD services in regional Australia.
“At least one attendee commented that this was the first LGBTIQ themed session that the Rural Health Conference had held and it was long overdue!” facilitators of the LGBTIQA+ workshop said.
“Another commented it was the first time as a LGBTIQA+ rural health professional supporting LGBTIQA rural people, that they could interact with similar ‘lived experience’ professionals in similar rural health provision or rural health research roles.”
The facilitators said some of the participants were keen to form an on-going ‘LGBTIQA+ rural health community of practice’. “How this may work is yet to be decided, and an email to those who expressed interest is about to go out. This is an amazingly good outcome!”
The strong emphasis on inclusion, cultural safety, accessibility and community leadership in the conference program reflected a sector committed to achieving better health outcomes for all Australians, regardless of where they live or the circumstances they face.
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