A theory of how rural health services contribute to community sustainability

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Farmer, Jane;Prior, Maria;Taylor, Judy
Judy Taylor
Abstract

Study and opinion suggest that health services play a significant role in supporting the social fabric of fragile rural communities. We draw on empirical evidence about the added-value contributions of health services to communities and unite it with theory of capitals to propose a theoretical model depicting how rural health services contribute to community sustainability. While providing an analytical framework, the paper also points to construction of a measurement tool for enabling planners to measure the contributions of diverse sectors to community sustainability and predict or measure the impact of changes to models of service delivery on the future of rural communities.

Journal

Social Science and Medicine

Publication Name

Social Science and Medicine

Volume

75

ISBN/ISSN

0277-9536

Edition

N/A

Issue

10

Pages Count

9

Location

N/A

Publisher

Elsevier

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.06.035