A pilot study of an educational service for rural mental health practitioners in South Australia using telemedicine

Studies have found that rural patients want to be treated in their local ho spitals. However, there have been difficulties with recruiting and retainin g professionals in rural areas of Australia. Isolation, lack of professiona l development programmes, lack of academic programmes, lack of peer consult ation and the need to travel long distances are some of the reasons identif ied in the National Rural Health strategy. A pilot service of educational p rogrammes delivered by telemedicine was initiated and then evaluated. Forty -six community mental health workers from nine rural areas and 20 general p ractitioners from five rural areas participated. High satisfaction with the use of telemedicine was recorded by both groups. Telemedicine reduced the disincentives to rural practice, and also improved the professionals' compe tence and confidence in managing patients with psychiatric illness.