Keywords: Rural Health, Advocacy, Health Promotion, Rural Healthcare Workforce, Retention. Rural Health Careers, Career Development
Justification:
The Rural Stars Project was launched by Rural Seeds in 2024 to support rural healthcare workers in advocating for rural healthcare in their communities and to improve the longevity of the rural workforce. The rural healthcare workforce has historically struggled with recruitment and retention of healthcare workers. There is significant evidence that empowering young people in rural communities to pursue healthcare careers leads to greater recruitment and retention. As many countries do not have dedicated training pathways for rural health careers, we are exploring what practical measures could be used at the local level in different contexts to promote rural health and rural health careers. The guidebook will be a freely accessible tool that can be used by students and early career clinicians. It will provide practical examples and links to useful information that can be adapted to their local context.
Objective:
Utilize the shared experience and knowledge of rural healthcare workers to strategies a viable guide for rural healthcare workers working alone or who are early in their careers.
Organisation:
1. Explain objective of guide (10min)
2. Gather what information participants would have wanted to know about rural health promotion and advocacy (20 min)
3. Discuss what strategies have been put in place in different parts of the world and their practicality (20min)
4. Summary of group discussion (10min)
This is a hybrid session with discussion in small groups in person and online via zoom.
Participation:
Target audience: rural healthcare students and professionals, community leaders in rural areas, community members in rural areas.
Expected outcomes:
The workshop outcomes will contribute to the development of the guidebook. Rural healthcare professionals play an important role in the promotion and development of rural health in their communities. By developing this practical guidebook we aim to support them in this role to empower them and their rural communities.
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