Equipping rural public health practitioners with skills for working in rural areas: preliminary findings from an ongoing project

To work in rural areas, public health practitioners may need unique skills. Both globally and locally, health in rural communities is influenced by the way populations access care (1), as well as variations in environment, employment, infrastructures and population demographics. It may not seem like rural Wales has much in common with places like rural Nigeria but rural challenges, and solving these challenges, is not unique to Wales. Globally, rural areas have fewer transportation networks, less infrastructures and poorer healthcare access than urban areas, and rural healthcare worker shortages are a global problem (2). These issues effect the way practitioners work, for example rural areas may have an insufficient supply of trained workers and a smaller health team (3) which could mean more independent decision making or lone working. Specific skills such as the ability to organize community activities, provide leadership and build capacity are important in rural areas (4) and public health efforts may be hampered by practitioners who are unprepared for rural settings (5). At the University of South Wales, we have UK and non-UK MSc Public Health graduates working in rural areas around the world. Thus, the question is, what skills and preparedness do rural public health practitioners need, and are we providing our graduates with the right skills to work effectively in rural communities?