https://ijwpc.mcgill.ca/ <p><strong>The International Journal of Whole Person Care</strong> published by McGill Programs in Whole Person Care aims to serve as a scholarly forum for how we approach health care, with an emphasis on the existential/spiritual aspects of health research and practice. The journal is interested in scholarly work that addresses the intersection between personhood, health and suffering as well as approaches that facilitate congruence between patients, practitioners and their environments.</p> McGill University Library & Archives en-US The International Journal of Whole Person Care 2291-918X <p>Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Creative Comons 4.0 CC-BY</p><p>Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.</p><p>Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).</p> https://ijwpc.mcgill.ca/article/view/425 <p>-</p> Cory Ingram Martha Siska Copyright (c) 2023 Cory Ingram, Martha Siska https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2024-01-29 2024-01-29 11 1 15 19 10.26443/ijwpc.v11i1.425 https://ijwpc.mcgill.ca/article/view/404 Peter Dorward Copyright (c) 2023 Peter Dorward https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2024-01-29 2024-01-29 11 1 5 11 10.26443/ijwpc.v11i1.404 https://ijwpc.mcgill.ca/article/view/428 Timothy Wideman Copyright (c) 2024 Timothy Wideman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2024-01-29 2024-01-29 11 1 1 4 10.26443/ijwpc.v11i1.428 https://ijwpc.mcgill.ca/article/view/424 Sandra Derghazarian Copyright (c) 2023 Sandra Derghazarian https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2024-01-29 2024-01-29 11 1 12 14 10.26443/ijwpc.v11i1.424 https://ijwpc.mcgill.ca/article/view/365 <p><strong>Background:</strong> Following a short rural health placement in the second year of medical school five students opted, as an extra-curricular activity, to conduct an exploratory research project into the wellbeing and health concerns of rural residents in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia. The project was conducted in collaboration with the local shires. The aim was to document, analyse and understand the health concerns and experience of rural residents.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A phenomenological research approach was employed. Seventeen rural residents selected by the shires, and four key informants responded to open-ended interviews. Their narratives were subjected to a thematic analysis.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> The narratives described a wide range of health concerns relating to health services, mental illness, transportation, accommodation, marginalisation of the community, bureaucratisation of administration, community fragmentation and the desire for community partnerships. Frustration and inconvenience from community factors were associated with anxiety, depression, isolation, and loss of wellbeing.</p> <p><strong>Discussion:</strong> The respondents described a dysfunctional and under resourced local rural community. They defined numerous health concerns related to deficiencies in community cohesion and integration. They illustrated how whole person health involving prevention, acute and chronic treatment and aged care are all impacted by rural community circumstances. The narratives highlight the need for community development at the population level and for community context to be a principal focus in the clinical practice of whole person care in rural communities. </p> Andrew Harper Kiera Sanders Kahla Edwards Tasfeen Billah Tessa Corbett Lucy Irvine Copyright (c) 2023 Andrew Harper https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2024-01-29 2024-01-29 11 1 20 33 10.26443/ijwpc.v11i1.365