PAGE 10 Special Spring Issue 2021 PAGE 11 Special Spring Issue 2021
The Rural Health Workforce Conference (RHWC) will be held April
22-24, 2021. The conference is hosted by the Missouri Rural
Health Association (MRHA) in partnership with Missouri University
School of Medicine and the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA).
The RHWC is ideal for health care practitioners, health care
administrators, students, HR professionals, nonprofit
organizations, and businesses with a vested interest in rural
health care and attracting qualified professionals to serve rural
communities. Though originally supposed to feature both in-
person and online participation, attendees are now encouraged to
safely attend from home as the conference goes entirely virtual
due to COVID-19 concerns.
The conference comes at a critical time as rural communities
continue to face health professional shortages in key disciplines
including primary care, dentistry, and specialty health care
services to name a few. The pandemic has especially impacted
rural communities and their health care teams, adding to the
hardships providers already face. According to a brief by the
National Rural Health Association (NRHA), rural communities
generally possess fewer health care workers, which combined with
the small population size makes the loss of a single provider have
significant impact. Rural communities also tend to be poorer than
their urban counterparts and have both dispersed populations and
insufficient transportation infrastructure. These factors make rural
health care personnel difficult to retain due to the immense
pressure and fatigue they experience, especially during the
pandemic.
The NRHA states that the health care labor shortage in the U.S. is
expected to last into the foreseeable future and is due in part to
maldistribution of health professionals, affecting predominantly
rural communities. Rural health workforce training is often
inadequate and students are less likely to have the support they
need through financial and educational status, role models, and
available transportation to professional education programs. The
lack of support and resources for rural health care workers,
compounded with the fear of virus exposure, pressure of being
one of few frontline workers in the area, and general exhaustion,
has many employees facing burnout.
Burnout, a job-related stress syndrome resulting in exhaustion, is
now seen as an "epidemic" for the medical care industry. Experts
are working to find solutions and coping skills for providers,
especially new medical students. They believe that teaching
providers to care for their own health and mental wellbeing will
lead them to not only provide better care as residents, but also
have a better understanding of the impact of mental health.
In a 2003 statement on physician depression and suicide, the
American Medical Association stated, "Because physicians' own
health habits affect their health and prevention counseling,
attention to their depression and suicidality may improve their
mentoring and training of young physicians and may improve
mental health care of patients." Though there isn't hard data
supporting a link between physician burnout and suicide, there
are increased rates of suicidal ideation in medical students and
residents. Burnout is caused by a variety and typically
combination of factors and can be measured to determine both its
cause and its effects on patient satisfaction, economics, quality,
and safety.
Understanding the factors that lead to burnout includes
acknowledging the rural-specific causes such as the provider vs
population difference and lack of financial support as well as
considering how various identities intersect in the rural medical
field. While new students may experience burnout due to the
enormous pressures and emotional tolls of medical school, female
physicians experience burnout due to irregular schedules not
allowing a work-life balance with childcare, among other factors.
Improving support for providers leads to better patient care, ideas
to improve rural community infrastructure, and a stronger
understanding of the intersection of physical and mental health.
The goal of the conference is to educate and empower rural health
care personnel to create meaningful, sustainable changes in their
communities to better serve both patients and providers.
"Providing rural health care comes with many intricacies," said
Missouri Rural Health Association Executive Director Melissa Van
Dyne. "Despite its tremendous rewards, like caring for people
you've grown up with or elders who lived in your neighborhood, it
also poses challenges. In rural communities, health care
disparities are fueled by transportation deserts, long commutes to
neighboring cities to receive care, hospital closures, inadequate
broadband infrastructure that sometimes circumvents access to
telehealth, among many other barriers. Add to that health
professional shortages and in some instances the inability to
attract and recruit health practitioners – and the obstacles
become more extreme. This conference addresses some of those
challenges and offers attendees an avenue to broaden their
networks. Anyone vested in rural health care is highly encouraged
to attend."
The conference will cover a variety of topics including COVID-19's
impact on rural health care, mental health, and rural suicide
prevention. It will also feature speakers, workshops, and breakout
sessions covering employee recruitment and retention, policies
that affect rural health care, building sustainable transportation
infrastructure, and more. Links to access the conference will be
sent prior to the event. Tickets are $50 with no refunds available.
Register for the virtual event by April 16:
https://mrhassociation.org/event/rural-health-workforce-
conference/.
Rural
Health
Workforce
Conference
Prioritizes
Community
Solutions
and
Care
for
Both
Patients
and
Providers
Save the Date for this Virtual Event April 22-24
By
Elena
Cleaves,
Staff
Writer
(© Chaay_tee - stock.adobe.com)
