Achieving resilient healthcare in rural areas
Unified political support and cooperation across various public administration departments are key to enhance access to health services in rural areas Patricia Martínez, policy analyst at the Rural Pact Support Office, emphasised at Interreg Europe’s webinar of 5 June 2024. Achieving collaboration among departments dealing with education, health, agriculture, and rural development is needed to prevent working in silos and ensure respective regulations are rural-proofed.
Titled ‘Resilient healthcare in rural areas’, the webinar explored ways to enhance synergies among health professionals; home health services; e-health solutions; new recruitment strategies for healthcare establishments; and preventive healthcare in rural contexts.
The event delved into the implementation of concrete recommendations by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on the reinforcement of primary and integrated care provision, incentives for multi-disciplinary health centres, and expanded use of telemedicine. It highlighted:
- the need for more rural training opportunities and better infrastructure to ensure the attraction and retention of medical professionals in rural areas;
- the importance of investing in access to health services in rural areas, given the social and economic return it brings to the territory.
The webinar showcased inspiring practices of coordinating different professionals’ efforts to adjust healthcare access to rural needs (Integrated Social and Healthcare project, Spain) and providing dental care to rural nursing home residents through assisted tele-expertise (Tel-e-dent, France).
It built on the akin Rural Pact webinar on enhancing access to health services in rural areas – explore the event web page for the highlights report, video recordings and presentations. Discover the latest Rural Pact resources on health and care, including news, events, and publications.