Rural and island health and care: qualitative study of experiences
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Rural and island health and care in Scotland: a qualitative study of experiences of accessing and providing care (Part of the BRUCES research programme)
IRAS ID
354007
Contact name
Louise Locock
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
This Protocol is for a qualitative study that is part of a wider programme of research for the Scottish Government called BRUCES - Building Rural-Urban healthCare Equity for Scotland. This wider programme aims to understand how and why health and care for people living in different types of rural communities differ from those living in urban areas, and how we can improve health and care access and health outcomes. Our research focuses on examples of common long-term health issues (cancer, musculoskeletal conditions and frailty)
This qualitative study focusses on case studies in three geographical areas in Scotland that are illustrative of different types of rural context (remote and accessible mainland areas and island areas). We will interview people living in these areas with cancer, musculoskeletal conditions and frailty to explore their experiences of care. We will also interview healthcare professionals delivering care to people living in rural areas. We will also review secondary source materials such as descriptions of local service provision and publicly available data relevant to the study such as Census data. This will help us set out what ‘good care’ looks like, the specific organisational and logistical challenges of delivering care to rural and island communities and what needs to be continued/changed to achieve good care across rural Scotland.
These findings will then inform future parts of the wider programme of research that involve a discrete choice experiment (survey) and future policy workshops with patients, carers, health and social care staff, health managers, policymakers and academic experts. From this we will create an action plan to introduce and measure impacts of the most promising solutions, producing guidance to support local and national service planning.REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
25/NI/0075
Date of REC Opinion
27 May 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion