Rural populations in Canada are generally older, less affluent, and sicker. Almost one-fifth of Canadians (18%) live in rural communities, but they are served by only 8% of the physicians practicing in Canada. These communities face ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining family physicians and other health care professionals. Considerable systemic change is needed to improve Indigenous health given the persistent inequity and inaction across the health system that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada identified. People in rural areas face more difficult access to health care than their urban counterparts, and when they do access health care they have poorer outcomes.
There is little evidence-based rural health care planning at the national and provincial levels to provide direction. Policy decisions are too often guided by urban health care models without understanding the potential negative effects in rural communities. Rural communities need rural-based solutions and to develop regional capacity to innovate, experiment, and discover what works. An opportunity exists to narrow health disparities by providing care closer to home. Rural communities need an effective health care system with a stable work force. The time for solutions is now.
The Rural Road Map Implementation Committee (RRMIC) was formed in February 2018 to support the implementation of the Rural Road Map for Action (RRM).4 The RRMIC is co-sponsored by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada and has a broad membership that deliberately crosses sectors supporting the RRM’s social accountability vision. Committee members (Box 1) are either decision makers or maintain influential positions as part of the organizations they represent and are chosen based on their knowledge of and influence to advance the RRM.
Full Article can be found on this site.
