Episodes

  • Mari Lewis - Sustainable Communities Project Wales - Rural Innovation

    Mari Lewis - Sustainable Communities Project Wales - Rural Innovation
    Apr 30 2026

    Mari Lewis is Research and Development Officer at Rural Health and Care Wales. We talk about the Sustainable Communities Lampeter project.

    Episode Summary:

    01.00 Mari tells us about her role and rural health interest

    04.00 What is the background to the Sustainable Communities project?

    06.50 What is the context of Lampeter?

    10.00 How was the Cardicare/Solva toolkit applied in Lampeter?

    13.55 What were some of the insights from dialogue with the community?

    18.10 What are some of the opportunities that exist in Lampeter?

    24.35 What were the outcomes of the project?

    31.55 What would a more sustainable Lampeter look like?

    Key Messages:

    Health is experienced differently by people living in rural areas.

    Community support plays a vital role in helping people maintain independence and wellbeing.

    The project in Lampeter is focused on building community resilience and reducing social isolation for those living in rural areas by providing weekly socialising sessions.

    Cardicare used the Solva Toolkit, a pilot project started in Pembrokeshire which had positive outcomes in Aberporth. This was used again in Lampeter.

    Lampeter is a small market town in Caredigion, with about 2500 people, with a strong sense of identity and a vibrant community.

    The community has an aging population, with many elderly residents living alone.

    Loneliness and isolation continues to be a significant issues, particularly for those with mobility issues and due to limited transportation options.

    The existing community groups can be difficult for people to engage with so the project tried to establish a single point of contact to act as a link between the services available and the residents.

    Aberporth and Lampeter are two different communities so they did some initial research and resident surveys to see how the project would be accepted. That feedback was used to adapt the toolkit to Lampeter.

    Through dialogue with the community they explored the issues that residents faced and what they would like to see.

    Word of mouth was the best way to spread the word about the project. It was still challenging to get the word out to more isolated community members.

    Residents said they needed support with household chores, the internet, getting transport to appointments, companionship or a buddy system so that they could have a cup of tea with someone once a week. Music based events were popular.

    The project wanted to approach social isolation in a preventative way.

    There is a need to provide a consistent weekly opportunity for people to socialize without any pressure with optional activities.

    There was already strong social capital in Lampeter. There was an opportunity to create a consistent and welcoming entry point to help link to existing community assets.

    It is important to find accessible community spaces so that everyone in the community can get to the space.

    Findings from the project:

    The main finding was that the model needs to be flexible to work in different communities.

    The project and the events need to be community-led to reflect the culture and interests of that community.

    It is vital to build relationships when you are working on these kinds of projects, to properly engage people and listen to them to build trust.

    Partnerships strengthen reach and collaboration with local groups helps to build shared ownership which is a strong principle.

    Constantly take feedback on board and avoid over formalization as it can deter people from activities.

    You don't always need a large investment to strengthen community resilience.

    Solva Toolkit: https://www.solvacare.co.uk/toolkit/

    Rural Health & Care Wales

    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health!

    Rural Health Compass

    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • Matt Paneitz- Long Way Home: Education & Community Transformation

    Matt Paneitz- Long Way Home: Education & Community Transformation
    Apr 20 2026

    Matt Paneitz is the Executive Director of Long Way Home, an organization which works on sustainable education and community transformation.

    Episode Summary:

    01.05 Matt tells us about his role and how he became interested in working with rural communities

    01.48 What is Long Way Home?

    03.10 What is the philosophy behind the work of the organization?

    05.20 How has the use of trash as a building material impacted the health of the community?

    07.00 How did they decide to make rubbish part of the school tuition fee?

    07.55 What is the context of San Juan Compalapa?

    09.50 What are the challenges for education in this region?

    12.08 How has the availability of secondary education impacted the community?

    13.50 What were the challenges when they were initially setting up the school?

    16.03 How did they build relationships with the community?

    17.50 Who is part of the team of Long Way Home?

    19.30 How has indigenous culture been included in the work they do?

    20.46 What is the school campus like?

    24.40 What resources are available to support others to do something similar?

    25.35 What have been some of the most meaninful successes?

    27.40 What change would you like to see in rural development and sustainability?

    Key Messages:

    The work of Long Way Home started in San Juan Comalapa, a Maya Kaqchikel (indigenous) community in Guatemala.

    Long Way Home is a non-profit organization which is integrating sustainable rural development, education and addressing poverty.

    Built the first city park and they wanted to charge an entry fee, the entrance fee became a plastic bottle filled with trash.

    There was no system for trash management, there was nowhere to put it, so they decided to use trash as a building material.

    At their school the tuition fee is one plastic bottle filled with trash. One family will send 3 or 4 children to the school and they will clean up the trash in their environment. This then helps to clean the neighbourhood.

    They were experimenting with alternative material such as trash to bring down the cost of building materials.

    San Juan Comalapa is in the western highland of Guatemala, the area has volcanoes, it is 60km west of Guatemala city. The people are mostly farmers, growing maize.

    They opened the first high school in the town. There is a lack of money going into education. Not all of the children had a space in public school. Only 30% of children were enrolling in middle school as there is 87% unemployment locally.

    The availability of a secondary school with low tuition fees enabled more young women to go to school. This is also improving their chances of going to university. Members of the community are not becoming professionals with better employment opportunities.

    There were many obstacles to building the school. It was important to know the right people in the community who could help.

    Building relationships and trust was important, it meant never asking others to do something they would not do themselves.

    The school includes a Kaqchikel class where they learn about their language and culture.

    The school campus uses a variety of materials, they experimented with different building methods including tyres, earth bags, cob, and bamboo. There are 22 different buildings which have integrated conventional and unconventional materials.

    They used this experience to build further infrastructure with the wider community.

    They have shared their experiences with other organizations around the world. They have also shared their expertise in building with alternative materials and documented the process to create a profile for the different types of buildings.

    Website: https://lwhome.org/

    YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LongWayHomeOrg

    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health!

    Rural Health Compass

    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • Rural Health Compass - Rural Health Equtiy Chat & Call to Action

    Rural Health Compass - Rural Health Equtiy Chat & Call to Action
    Apr 10 2026

    Learn more about the work of Rural Health Compass and the Rural Health Equity Chat Community.

    Rural Helth Euquity Chat Report: https://ruralhealthcompass.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/rural-health-equity-chat-report-2026.pdf

    Call to Action: https://forms.gle/Dahi5d8Ms6T4Nwp6A

    Join the Rural Health Equity Chat community: https://forms.gle/LxS2MTmm9tTbYehC9

    Rural Health Compass on the Lancet Podcast podcast

    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health!

    Rural Health Compass

    Show More Show Less
    8 mins
  • Michelle Symes - Dementia Friendly Ceredigion - Rural Innovation Wales

    Michelle Symes - Dementia Friendly Ceredigion - Rural Innovation Wales
    Mar 30 2026

    Michelle Symes is Research and Development Officer at Rural Health and Care Wales. She speaks to us about the research she has been involved in which is working towards a Dementia Friendly Ceridigion.

    Episode summary:

    01.00 Michelle tells us how she became interested in rural health and her current role

    02.35 What is the context within which people in Ceredigion live?

    04.45 Why was dementia an important priority to address?

    06.02 What were some of the challenges facing people living with dementia?

    08.30 What did their study uncover?

    12.12 What insights did the study show about collaborative working in communities?

    14.30 What are some of the key opportunities to improve lived experience for people with dementia?

    24.50 What changes would she like to see in the next 5-10 years?



    Key Messages:

    Ceredigion is the fourth largest county in Wales and one of the most sparsely populated, 21% of the population are aged over 65.

    Significant youth and young adult migration. There is an imbalance in job opportunities and career development opportunities.

    As the population ages, dementia becomes an important priority to address.

    Challenges: poor transportation networks, underinvestment in rural areas, reduced access to services and support, poor broadband access, no single point of contact for relevant information for people with dementia or their carers.

    The study identified a number of positive outcomes such as a wide range of support and care services at a county level and within local communities.

    Cader network working on broadband access improvement.

    Age Friendly Forum in Ceridigion: https://www.ceredigion.llyw.cymru/resident/wellbeing-and-care/support-for-adults/age-friendly-ceredigion/

    Importance of a hub or one-stop shop of information before and afer diagnosis.

    Prioritizing involvement of people with dementia in decision making and development of services.

    Consideration of wayfaring when redesigning or redeveloping a local area. Landmarks are an important way that people with dementia know where they are.

    There is a need to assess best practice within Wales to see if it can be established nationally.

    CaBan group at Bangor university is an example of how communities can actively participate in informing research and policy decisions.

    Swansea Dementia Hub - an example of how useful a hub approach can be.

    Knowledge is Power scheme: https://www.dementiaactifgwynedd.cymru/downloads/newly-diagnosed-knowledge-is-power.pdf

    Wrexham Purple Angle Scheme part of a global initiative: https://purpleangelsglobal.com/useful-links/

    Enablement of a one-stop shop for information to make life easier, earlier for those people with a diagnosis and their carers. Easy access and availability of information has to be a priority.

    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health!

    Rural Health Compass

    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • Prof Liam Glynn & Prof Peter Hayes - Transforming Rural Health in Ireland

    Prof Liam Glynn & Prof Peter Hayes - Transforming Rural Health in Ireland
    Mar 20 2026
    Prof Liam Glynn is the Professor of General Practice at the School of Medicine, University of Limerick and Chair of ICGP National Rural General Practice Standing Committee. Prof Peter Hayes is Professor of Rural General Practice at the School of Medicine, University of Limerick. In this episode they will share the story of how Ireland transformed its rural health landscape over two decades. Episode summary: 01.10 They tell us about their interest in rural health and about their current roles 07.10 What led to the "No Doctor, no Village" campaign in the late 2000's and what impact did that campaign have? 17.40 How did the Rural, Island and Dispensing Doctors of Ireland (RIDDI), Irish College of GPs and the University of Limerick work together to advocate for rural health? 21.10 How was the Rural Wonca conference in 2022 significant and how did they keep the momentum going after the event? 25.50 How does the state of rural healthcare in 2026 compare to what was happening 20 years ago? 32.55 What were some of the enablers and some of the challenges for policy advocacy? 35.00 What advice could you share with others who are trying to improve rural healthcare in their country or region? Key messages After the economic crash in 2008 rural healthcare in Ireland came under pressure. The community came together through the "No Doctor, No Village" campaign. It began as a series of public meetings and local government leaders were asked how they would address the issues facing rural healthcare. The government at the time did not have a plan to address rural healthcare. They put forward their own candidates for parliament at the general election, a rural doctor became a member of parliament and was able to support change from that role. The Rural WONCA conference in 2022 in Limerick led to the development of the Limerick Declaration. The Limerick Declaration focuses on leadership, workforce, research and policy advocacy. The conference allowed many leading experts to come together and synthesize national and international issues. University of Limerick gives students the opportunity to experience rural practice during their training. They produce the highest number of general practitioners among the Universities in Ireland. This supports the rural workforce pipeline. For a successful Conference that enables change you need the support of clinicians who understand the coal face, academics who have organized conferences before and the GP College to support policy change. Building relationships and partnerships throughout the process is very important. Introduced the Rural Ambassador programme at the conference and they supported the development of the Limerick Declaration. You need some small wins to keep momentum going. Change agendas can be slow and keeping faith is important. Rural Practics Support Framework helped to make rural practice more viable. Workforce pipeline has been supported by longitudinal placements in rural areas. New programme has been developed to focus on developing rural general practitioners. There is also a programme for international medical graduates to develop rural practice careers. Locum Support has also been made available to rural practices allowing rural GPs to take their annual leave and continue to provide services for their patients. General practice in Ireland is entrepreneurial, this can be a challenge in uncertain times. Providing mentorship for new general practitioners has been important for supporting new GPs. The most important voice is the voice of those most affected - the communities. Getting the right people in the room is important, when relationships are built, then key people will attend meetings and events when they are invited. Advice for policy advocacy and change: Involve communities and important stakeholders. Be prepared to work hard and be patient. Change is not linear. Go political where you can. Build relationships. Learn more: https://www.the-iceberg.org/jmic-case-studies/transforming-rural-health-a-tale-of-3-meetings/ Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health! Rural Health Compass
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
  • Betty-Ann Bryce - Rural Proofing: Through the Looking Glass

    Betty-Ann Bryce - Rural Proofing: Through the Looking Glass
    Mar 10 2026
    Betty-Ann Bryce is a Senior Policy Analyst and Rural Policy Expert at the OECD. We take a deep-dive into the rural proofing process. Episode summary: 01.10 Betty-Ann tells us about her professional background and how she started working in the rural policy and rural proofing space 02.55 What is rural proofing? 04.26 Why is rural proofing important for health? 08.50 Who should take part in rural proofing and at what stage in the process? 12.20 Who is responsible for gathering and interpreting "rural proofing intelligence"? 21.23 Which countries are doing rural proofing well? 32.58 What are some key factors that need to be in place for rural proofing to be effective? 39.35 What work is the OECD doing to support countries in doing rural proofing? Key Messages Everyone is doing rural proofing, it is simply checking to see if a policy will negatively impact rural areas. It can be called different things, rural proofing or territorial policy or applying a rural lens. Rural proofing is not for rural spaces, it is for departments that don't think rural, such as health departments. They are the one designing policies. Rural proofing relies on a holistic and integrated whole of government approach. This means that different departments would sit down together and think about the direct and indirect consequences of their policies before they are rolled out. This is often not done. A government department first needs to recognize that a policy that they are developing may have inequity embedded in it, they may not realize this. They are not thinking about how implementation would be different in rural areas. Who needs to be at the table? Persons with knowledge of rural data - rural proofing intelligence, stakeholders who have relevant knowledge and the rural proofer (person from the government department). Rural proofing is a process not a strategy. It is a trial and error process which needs to be designed in collaboration. It needs to create tools that can be used by the "rural proofer". The rural proofer is responsible for rural proofing. Think about what the rural proofer needs to do their job. The right stakeholders need to be involved at the right time. This could be different at national and sub-national levels. Rural proofing intelligence is qualitative and quantitative, ideally there should be at least three types of evidence. What is going on in rural places? It is important to use existing data and interpret it in a different way, with rural in mind. Countries don't always know that they can use their existing data for rural proofing. Rural networks and on the ground voices are key for collecting qualitative data. It is important that the collected rural proofing intelligence is translated so that the rural proofer can easily understand the data. We need to agree on what success is in regard to rural proofing. Rural proofing has not failed if a policymaker does not change their decision after being presented with rural intelligence. Rural proofing fails when the evidence is not clear or it was not gathered in a timely fashion not because an unfavourable decision was taken. Rural proofing takes time as it is a process that needs to be developed through collaboration. Finland, Canada and Northern Ireland are doing well at developing the rural proofing process. It is in a country's interest to design policies that support rural places as these places contribute to their prosperity. Rural places are assets and key partners. It is important to change the framing and narrative when we talk about rural places. Important factors for rural proofing for health: rural proofing intelligence, mapping connections between health and other departments, leverage existing initiative to improve efficiency rather than asking for more money, close collaboration between health and rural departments in the country. OECD Webinars Rural Communication – a Three-part Dialogue Rural Communications Workshop 1: Where communication breaks down (Wednesday, 4 March 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET). Click to Register. Rural Communications Workshop 2: What is good practice? (Wednesday, 18 March 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET). Click to Register. Rural Communications Workshop 3: Measuring communication effectiveness (Wednesday, 15 April 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET). Click to Register. Rural Proofing – a Three-part Dialogue Rural Proofing Workshop 1: What is rural proofing intelligence? (Wednesday, 11 March 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET). Click to Register. Rural Proofing Workshop 2: Involving the right stakeholders at the right time (Wednesday, 1 April 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET). Click to Register. Rural Proofing Workshop 3: Delivering information that can drive action (Wednesday, 29 April 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET). Click to Register. Contact Betty-Ann Bryce here. Rural Proofing for Health Paper Principles of Rural Policy Thank you for listening to the ...
    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • Welcome to Season 4 of the Rural Road to Health

    Welcome to Season 4 of the Rural Road to Health
    Feb 20 2026

    Wecome to Season 4!

    Last Seasons's stats:

    >1500 downloads

    21 guests (62% females, 38% male)

    9 countries, 3 continents

    15 episodes

    Top 3 episodes of Season 3:

    1. Profs Sarah and Roger Strasser - Adventures in Rural Health Education and Research
    2. Dr Iva Petricusic - Rural Health in Croatia
    3. A/Prof Malin Fors - Geographical Narcissism and Potato Ethics

    Comming up in season 4:

    Betty-Ann Bryce from the OECD speaks about the process of rural proofing and why it is important.

    Prof Liam Glynn and Prof Peter Hayes speak about how policy advocacy and strategic action has shaped rural health in Ireland over the past 20 years.

    Episodes will be released on the 10th, 20th and 30th of the month between March and August 2026.

    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health!

    Rural Health Compass

    Show More Show Less
    4 mins
  • Profs Sarah & Roger Strasser - Adventures in Rural Health Education & Research

    Profs Sarah & Roger Strasser - Adventures in Rural Health Education & Research
    Jun 20 2025
    Prof Sarah Strasser and Prof Roger Strasser, a trailblazing couple in the world of rural health, rural health research and rural medical education. Episode summary: 01.15 Sarah and Roger share how they became interested in rural health and some key highlights from their careers 15.30 What did they find most rewarding about living and working in rural areas and what was challenging? 20.50 How did they balance all their different roles with their family life? 29.30 What have been the most important research projects that they have worked on? 51.30 What is NOSM and what makes it different from other medical schools? 59.45 What were the enablers for the development of NOSM? 1:05.00 What has it been like to be a woman and trailblazer in the rural health space over time? 1:11.15 What do they see as being the research focus in rural health in the next 5 to 10 years? Key Messages: They have lived and worked in different countries and in different rural and remote communities. They both share a passion for rural communities and rural health. In 1991 the first National Rural Health Conference inspired a lot of activity around rural health in Australia. Monash University developed rural training pathways and the Monash School of Rural Health. Roger became the first Professor of Rural Health in Australia. Roger acted as the Founding Dean of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Canada for 17 years. This is a multi-site rural based full medical school. Sarah started her academic journey in Canada by teaching nurses about whole person medicine. She then became regional director of general practice training in Australia and then became the national director of rural health and covered Indigenous health. Sarah later became dean of Health Sciences at the University of Otago New Zealand. Most enjoyed: The sense of space and being part of the community. Having a very privileged role which lets you get to know the deep issues within the community. Using that privilege in an appropriate way and making a difference for the better. Relationships with the people and the community. Community connectedness. Challenges: Lack of child care that works for you. Lack of resources. Realizing how frustrating it is when things that you need on a daily basis run out or are not working, this can be a quick way to get burnout. Balancing their careers, different professional roles, and raising a family was challenging. Work-life balance gives the impression that work is not part of life. Roger prefers the concepts of work-style life-style mix. Research and teaching are integral to clinical practice. In the daily interaction with patients there are often questions that come up, occasionally there is not an answer in the literature or when asking a colleague. This can be part of a new research question to pursue. It is all woven together. It has been wonderful to see how things have changed over time. On one hand some things seem to stay the same, on the other side everything has changed. Over the last couple of years has been going to conferences that are full of people she does not know. Two threads of research. One was a series of studies asking people in rural and remote communities about their needs. They have a security need, they need to feel that there is a safety net. They first need a doctor and a hospital. Then looking at the sustainability of rural and remote services - 22 in depth case studies. Found that the ones that were doing well had active community participation in the running of the health service. Looked at issues of recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals. Explored contributing to factors of success and developed a rural workforce stability framework with 5 country partners. Active community participation again came up as a strong factor for success. The second thead was education and training for rural practice. Recognizing that there is a better chance of medical graduates going into rural practice with early exposure to rural contexts. Rural upbringing, positive rural clinical experiences and postgraduate training that prepares clinicians for rural practice are the three factors that have been shown to be most important. Immersive community engaged education. Seeking out the disconnects and trying to prove alternative ways of doing things. Don't accept things as they are, go and investigate and find out what needs to be done. Communication and dissemination is an important part of research, share what you find with the relevant people. Encourage community engagement and recognize the importance of patients as teachers. Rural practitioners are naturally effective teachers. Doctors more generally after time in practice through their interaction with patients develop a lot of skill in teaching. Importance of having contracts - doctors and the community knew how long they would be there and ...
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 23 mins