Ensuring "Best Fit" for Rural Health Service Delivery
Given that approximately one third of Alberta's population is considered rural, the idea of "rural proofing" policies makes a lot of sense. Developed in the United Kingdom, rural proofing is a process that scrutinizes public service delivery to ensure that impacts on rural areas are considered when implementing new initiatives.
A team of researchers and administrators from Alberta Health Services in Calgary saw the potential of rural proofing as applied to health care. "Instead of retrofitting policies and services to rural areas, rural proofing is a way to make up-front adjustments to accommodate particular circumstances of the rural context," explains Judy Seidel, Health Services Researcher. "It should save time, save money and give better results - safe, high quality care."
In 2007, the Calgary team began to develop a rural proofing process called Rural Impact Assessment (RIA), which consists of a framework, systematic process and a set of tools to assist in the identification of differential impacts on rural areas. "We were at the initial pilot testing stage when we were provided with a valuable opportunity to have SEARCH VI participants test some of the tools. At the same time, SEARCHers could learn more about developing policies and programs for rural areas. It was a win-win."
As part of the policy module delivered in November 2008, SEARCH participants broke into groups and applied one of the RIA tools to a particular scenario. "It worked like a charm," says Seidel. "It was a great learning opportunity for the participants and our team gained useful input on how people work with the tools. SEARCHers are ideal because they have expertise in developing and delivering health services. I don't know of any other organization that brings together people with this breadth of expertise in a single forum."
From the discussions, a number of key messages emerged about the strengths and challenges of rural-proofing health care in Alberta. The input from the SEARCH participants was used to redesign selected RIA elements. The RIA is now in a pilot test prior to potential roll-out across the province.