User:Panda1600/Rural health

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Physical environment
In many countries a lack of critical infrastructure and development in rural areas can impair rural health. The physical isolation of some rural communities coupled with the lack of infrastructure makes it increasingly difficult for those that live in these regions to travel to seek care in clinics and hospitals. Insufficient wastewater treatment, lack of paved roads, and exposure to agricultural chemicals have been identified as additional environmental concerns for those living in rural locations. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports lower water quality and increased crowding of households as factors affecting disease control in rural and remote locations. In hot climates, some scholars are exploring how hybrid solar energy systems could to provide power to different kinds of healthcare equipment. The solar energy solution would dramatically reduce costs in tropical climate countries such as the Philippines as well as utilize their proximity to the equator. This allows for extending business hours in rural health clinics which could better accommodate community members’ schedules making services more inclusive and equitable.

Community engagement
Community participation and sustained partnerships between healthcare providers and community members is key to delivering effective rural healthcare. “Community members are important stakeholders, and their perspectives about their health needs and utilization patterns, the health care they can afford to access, and the quality of care they receive, should be viewed as expert evidence when devising rural health care policies.” Functional participation involves forming groups to meet existing objectives that are related to a particular goal. Active participation can be integrated through decision-making efforts that are open to all members of the community. Specifically, when improving transportation in rural areas, community members should be consulted to provide their own ideas and have individual roles throughout the project. Support systems should be in place for locals to be involved in critical decision-making as well as voice their opinions with equal stakes without feared backlash. Telemedicine and e-health solutions are also helping outreach to rural patients, in places like the rural Eastern Cape in South Africa. Community participation encourages people living in rural communities to take care of their mental and physical health and empowers them to practice healthy living.

Rural health projects
Rural health improvement projects worldwide tend to focus on finding solutions to the three basic problems associated with a rural health system. These problems center around communication, transportation of services and goods, and lack of doctors, nurses, and general staff.

Many rural health projects in poor areas that lack access to basic medical help like clinics or doctors use non-traditional methods for providing health care. Approaches like Hesperian Health Guides' book, Where There is No Doctor, and World Hope International's app, mBody Health, have been shown to increase health awareness and provide additional health resources to rural communities.

An evaluation of a community organizing, mother and infant health program called the Sure Start project in rural India showed that community organization around maternal and infant health improvement leads to actual improvement in the health of the mother. The evaluation also showed that these community based programs lead to increased use of health services by the mothers.

In Peru, the presence of certain key organizations such as USAID, PIH, and UNICEF as well as more local NGOs have greatly spearheaded the efforts of establishing a system suitable for the diverse populations of the country. As governments continue to function under the assumption that communities have access to the same resources and live under the same conditions and sets of exposures, their support of Westernized modes of healthcare are inadequate at meeting the varying needs communities and individuals. These systems overgeneralize the needs of the populations and perpetuate harmful cycles by believing that medical practices and procedures can apply to anyone regardless of their environment, socioeconomic status, and color of their skin, when reality proves otherwise. Such systemic failures contribute to a reliance on external NGOs to promote a more equitable healthcare system. In the Philippines, Child and Family Health International (CFHI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works on global health in Quezon, Lubang, and Romblon, Philippines focusing on primary care and health justice by offering health services and promoting health education. The Philippines program works through urban and rural clinics/health stations, respectively in Manila and the villages on remote islands known as geographically isolated disadvantaged areas. Their main goal to achieve health equity and social justice is carried out through leadership of local Filipinos and partnerships with community groups. Although universal healthcare is in place in the Philippines, CFHI addresses persisting inequities and disparities in rural and low-income communities.