Our health in our hands: Building effective community partnerships for rural health service provision

Closure, relocation or downgrading of health services, along with other services such as schools and banks, is a scenario that has been played out in many country towns across Australia and in other western countries over recent years. Yet issues of rural health and wellbeing continue to be of concern, with rural communities tending to have pooret health outcomes than their metropolitan counterparts (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2(05). There is growing evidence of the effectiveness of partnerships involving the community, in increasing the capacity of communities to respond to their own health need