Around one third of Australia's population live in rural and regional areas. This equates to around 8 million people. People living in rural and regional areas tend to have shorter lives and higher levels of illness and disease risk factors than those in major cities (AIHW 2017). One reason for this disparity in health status is the difficulty in accessing health services.
Access to healthcare services are sometimes taken for granted in metropolitan areas. Patients living remotely who require specialist care must travel to larger or tertiary hospitals, costing them time, money, and stress.
A key research focus of the Centre for Online Health is demonstrating the effectiveness of telehealth to deliver equitable healthcare outcomes for all Australians, no matter where they live.
As an additional benefit, local healthcare workers receive professional support and recognition from specialists working in tertiary hospitals.
| Featured projects | Duration |
|---|---|
|
Health-e-Regions (Phase 7) Shell QGC |
2023–2025 |
|
State-wide Rural and Remote Supportive and Specialist Palliative Care Telehealth Service Evaluation Queensland Health |
2020–2021 |
| DREAMT | 2017–2020 |
|
ePIMH Telepsychiatry Children’s Health Queensland/Children’s Health Foundation |
2017–2020 |
|
Royal Flying Doctors Service National Health and Medical Research Council |
2015–2020 |