Supporting better mental health services for rural Australians: secondary analysis from the Australian National Social Survey

[Extract] People with mental illness experience poorer physical health, less access to physical health care and live shorter lives compared to the general population.1 Managing physical health issues along with mental illness can be difficult, especially for those living in rural locations, given that access to mental health services diminishes as remoteness increases.2 Bridging health service disparities between regional and urban localities must be a national imperative since people with mental illness in rural areas have higher rates of early mortality due to physical illness.3 The aim of the present study was to offer additional evidence for bridging this gap by comparing the prevalence of co‐morbid mental and physical illness between urban and rural areas