Background Rural health outcomes are often worse than their urban counterparts. While rural health theory recognizes the importance of the social determinants of health, there is a lack of insight into public perspectives for improving rural health beyond the provision of health-care services. Gaining insight into perceived solutions, that include and go beyond health- care, can help to inform resource allocation decisions to improve rural health.
Objective To identify and describe shared perspectives within a remote-rural community on how to improve rural health.
Method Using Q methodology, a set of 40 statements were developed representing different perceptions of how to improve rural health. Residents of one remote-rural island community ranked this statement set according to their level of agreement. Card-sorts were analysed using factor analysis to identify shared points of view and interpreted alongside post-sort qualitative interviews.
Results Sixty-two respondents participated in the study. Four shared perspectives were identified, labelled: Local economic activity; Protect and care for the community; Redistribution of resources; and Investing in people. Factors converged on the need to relieve poverty and ensure access to amenities and services.
Awarded date
Sept 2019
Granting Organisations
International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity