Discipline of rural health is always about rural communities: The places, the people and the scholars

Rural health has always been about more than rural health services. The economic, environmental, social and cultural viability constitute the health determinants of rural communities. This viability determines how people live and what services they can access. The contribution of health services towards a viable community is, of course, important. Health services employ people who spend money in a town, and if the health staff live in that town, then they contribute to the culture and the ‘buzz’ of a place. Rural health services are an integral part of rural community infrastructure and so how these services operate and how they contribute to community viability is important.