Research highlights impact of post natural disaster recovery funding

Research produced as part of a partnership program involving Rural Doctors Network (RDN) has been published in the Australian Journal of Rural Health, and demonstrates the significant impact of recovery funding on the wellbeing and health workforce capability of rural practices in the face of natural disasters and emergencies. 

Lead researcher, Kate Hurst, undertook the study as part of the Embedded Researcher Program, a partnership program between RDN, university and industry partners to facilitate translational research across ten study areas with support from academic and RDN staff supervisors.? 

The study examined the impact of funding provided to support the wellbeing of rural health practitioners and their practice staff in the wake of the 2019–2022 bushfires. The study found that recovery funding for professional development improved rural health practitioners’ mental health, wellbeing, capability and support to clients. 

“What was significant about the fact that the funding increased access to training, was the link between training and maintaining the capability of rural health care practitioners and their practice staff,” Kate said. 

Read the research paper here.

Related reading:

• Research highlights impact of post-natural disaster recovery funding (Rural Health Pro)