Keeping Rural and Remote Communities Healthy

Sharon Fisher lives on a cattle farm near Mendooran, a small town an hour north west of Dubbo and almost six hours from Sydney. She has neuropathic pain and back pain and struggles to get through each day.

In order to pay for her medical costs and related travel (including two failed back surgeries in Sydney), her husband has taken on extra work far away from the farm, leaving her alone with the pain.

Sharon bought a book on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and her local GP tried to help, but says she really needs to consult an expert, and they are all in the city

Although a travelling pain specialist means Sharon now needs fewer trips to Sydney, going to Dubbo once a month is still exhausting and expensive.  She says if she lived in the city she would get to see pain experts more often and would feel less isolated.

While progress that has been made in some jurisdictions with new regional pain services, as well as outreach services and telehealth support, there are still too many people waiting in pain in the bush.

Sharon is just one of many Australians living in rural and remote areas who are unable to access the care they need for chronic pain – multidisciplinary pain clinics, pain specialists and allied health professionals trained in pain management.

Yet compared with people in major cities, those living in rural Australia are at least 23% more likely to have a chronic pain condition and 13% more likely to be overweight or obese (which can lead to osteoarthritis and chronic pain).

The industries of rural Australia (such as agriculture, mining, forestry and fishing) have higher incidences of injury, which can also result in more cases of chronic pain.

If we want to ensure that Australians in rural and remote areas are as healthy as people living in major cities, we need to address the issue of inequality when it comes to services and support for people with chronic pain.

Please download our submission to the National Rural Health Alliance Discussion Paper ‘Why we need a new rural and remote health strategy’ to find out more.