Making the case for place based governance in rural health workforce recruitment and retention: Lessons from Canada and Australia

Abstract

Rural communities around the world struggle to recruit and retain health workers to service the health needs of their diverse populations. The ensuing lack of access to essential health care contributes to inequalities between rurally-located and urban-located residents. It also jeopardises the future sustainability of rural living, including in comparably high-income countries. To explore elements of place-based governance in addressing the challenges of rural health workforce recruitment and retention we utilized two case studies. We conclude by suggesting the need for an evidence base that establishes relevant, context specific benchmarks while working across national and international boundaries to enable stronger understanding of place-making strategies in rural health workforce recruitment and retention.

Keywords

• Rural health workforce
• Rural workforce recruitment and retention
• Case study
• Place-making
• Place-based governance
• Community development