As Australia learns to live with Covid, the impact that grey nomads might have on potentially- stressed regional medical services is once again in the spotlight.
Although there are growing hopes that the current Omicron wave has ‘peaked’ in many states, there have been warnings from regional health workers that the system is struggling due to Covid cases and staff shortages.
Late last month, the CEO of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, Peta Rutherford, told the ABC that regional and rural areas were particularly vulnerable to staff shortages.
“Some communities, where you’ve got one or two doctor towns, if the doctor tests positive to Covid, or two of them test positive to Covid, that basically means the medical service is non-existent for that town,” she said. “And for people in that community, it could mean a 100-200 kilometre drive to the next health service.”
Of course, the potential arrival of grey nomads and other travellers in these areas adds another potential dynamic. Back in March, 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, many travellers will remember feeling quite unwelcome in some small towns in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.
However, a just-published study by a group of academics and health experts offers a rosier picture of the attitudes towards travellers in smaller towns.
‘Grey nomad travellers’ use of remote health services in Australia: a qualitative enquiry of hospital managers’ perspectives’ indicated that rural health experts did not see travellers as a burden on health services, although they do want grey nomads have more realistic expectation of the service they might receive.
The growth of telehealth will make a big difference to many grey nomads
The report was put together by Margaret Yates and Jenny Onyx from the University of Technology Sydney, Tracey Levett-Jones form the University of Newcastle, and Lin Perry from the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.
They said that while grey nomads were potential healthcare consumers in remote areas, relatively little was known about their travel, healthcare needs or care seeking practices.
“Grey nomads have been described as reflective of the age-comparable sector of the Australian population in that many live with chronic illness,” the report said. “Early concerns were raised that they may “burden” already stretched rural and remote healthcare services but relatively little is known about the impact of these travellers.”
The aim of the study was to explore the utilisation of healthcare services in remote locations in Australia by grey nomads, from the perspective of healthcare professionals working in these settings.
The authors conducted a series of interviews with nursing healthcare managers working in remote towns along a popular travel route. Although the interviews were actually conducted just before the pandemic struck, they revealed a very positive attitude.
“These nursing managers described a strong service and community ethos,” said the report. “They regarded travellers’ healthcare needs no differently to those of local people and described their strong commitment to the provision of healthcare services for their local communities, applying an inclusive definition of community.”
Traveller presentations were described as predominantly exacerbations of chronic illness such as chest pain, medication-related attendances, and accidents and injuries.
Travellers, however, were reported as not always having realistic expectations about what healthcare is available in remote areas and arriving with mixed levels of preparedness.
“Most travellers were said to be well-prepared for their travel and self-management of their health,” said the report. “However, the healthcare services that can be provided in rural and remote areas needed to be better understood by travellers from metropolitan areas and their urban healthcare providers.”
The authors also noted that Australia’s national transition to electronic health records, including a patient-held record, was identified as a future support for continuity of care for travellers and to facilitate treatment planning.
I have telephone set up with my doctor in Brisbane.I ring them they give me a time he rings back. I get my prescription by smart phone. If more attention is required I get a referral to nearest doctor.
We have only praise for the rural health services. Last year the RFDS took me from Windorah to Roma following a fall and a few years ago we had to use the after hours nurse at Isisford when I had a moth in my ear at midnight. We had expected to have to drive to Blackall hospital but after phoning them they told us there was a nurse on call at Isisford – great service
I’ve been around rural, regional & remote health for the last 20 years & I do find, on the whole, nomads are pretty self sufficient. They are always very appreciative of any help they get & I’ve not had anyone who has had unrealistic expectations of the health service.
We travelled for 6 years with a stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis and found the cancer councils in each state an invaluable resource for what services were available at different cancer care centres