The health challenges facing rural people and communities in Australia: What can psychology offer?

Much has been written about the challenges confrontingrural and remote Australia. These challenges canoperate at the individual level such as unhelpful healthbehaviours and high levels of physical and mental healthproblems, but also at the community level where a rangeof external pressures including climate change, changingeconomic conditions and natural disasters impinge onwhole of community well-being. Health outcomes forrural and remote communities are reported to be pooreroutside of metropolitan areas.1 Risk factors for manychronic diseases are also higher outside major cities withpeople living in rural and remote regions reporting highrates of cigarette smoking, risky levels of alcohol consumption and obesity.2 People living outside of majorcities are also more at risk of motor vehicle accidents.Not only do people who live outside major cities havepoorer health outcomes than city dwellers, but ruralcommunities themselves have been described asdying, with a dwindling sense of autonomy and socialcohesion