The Australian journal of rural health
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Aust J Rural Health · Aug 2015
Advance care planning and end-of-life care in a network of rural Western Australian hospitals.
To provide a current perspective on end-of-life (EOL) care in regional Western Australia, with a particular focus on the final admission prior to death and the presence of documented advance care planning (ACP). ⋯ This study provides benchmarking information that can assist other rural hospitals and suggests ongoing work on optimal methods of measuring quality in EOL care.
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Aust J Rural Health · Jun 2015
Waiting for definitive care: An analysis of elapsed time from decision to surgery or transfer in a rural centre.
To examine the timing of operative management and interhospital transfer of emergency general surgical patients in a regional setting. ⋯ Even in the absence of a strict four-hour rule program and a dedicated emergency surgical unit, main outcome measures appear to be comparatively efficient. However, the duration for transfer of patients is suboptimal because of the lack of established pathways for urgent non-trauma transfer from rural centres and bed availability in tertiary hospitals.
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Aust J Rural Health · Apr 2015
Small rural emergency services can electronically collect accurate episode-level data: A cross-sectional study.
There is little evidence that useful electronic data could be collected at Australian small rural emergency services. If in future their funding model changed to the Activity-Based Funding model, then they would need to collect and submit more data. We determine whether it is possible to collect episode-level data at six small rural emergency services and quantify the accuracy of eight fields. ⋯ All six services collected useful episode-level data for 12-months with four hours per week of assistance. Data entry accuracy was high for all fields audited, and data entry completeness was low for procedures.
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Aust J Rural Health · Apr 2015
Hand therapy services for rural and remote residents: Results of a survey of Australian occupational therapists and physiotherapists.
The aim of this study was to explore how interventions were provided to meet the needs of rural/remote residents who have had a traumatic hand injury, including the coordination of services between rural/remote and metro/regional therapists. Barriers to providing services, use of technology and professional support provided to therapists in rural/remote areas were also explored. ⋯ The use of technology across Australia to support rural/remote patient intervention requires attention to achieve equity and ease of use. Flexible and realistic goals and interventions should be considered when working with rural/remote patients. A shared care approach between metropolitan/regional and rural/remote therapists can improve understanding of rural/remote issues and provide support to therapists. Further research is recommended to determine the suitability of this approach when providing hand therapy to rural/remote residents.
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Aust J Rural Health · Feb 2015
Comparative StudyWho provides care for people dying of cancer? A comparison of a rural and metropolitan cohort in a South Australian bereaved population study.
To examine and compare urban and rural palliative care service availability and patterns of care from randomised, population-based surveys of caregivers of people at the end of life. ⋯ Use of palliative care services was similar for rural and urban caregivers for someone close at the end of life with similar levels of met and unmet needs.