The power of place: space and time in women's and community health centresin South Australia

This paper focuses on the importance of time and space in an Australian med ical setting, It draws on research findings from a one year project that ai med to explore community perspectives of, and experiences of medical servic es in three South Australian women's and community health centres. Both qua litative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used in order to address these objectives. A significant finding was the way in which participants described the organisation and experience of time and s pace in these centres and how this impacted on their health and well being and that of the community. In analysing these spatio-temporal dimensions an d the underlying philosophical structures of women's and community health c entres, this paper argues that experiences associated with space and time h ave a positive effect on health status by: diminishing barriers to health s ervices, improving quality of care, increasing community participation, pro viding safe places for social interaction and strengthening people's sense of belonging or attachment to a particular community and place. Based on th ese findings, the authors conclude that the spatio-temporal dimensions of h ealth care provision have empowering and positive impacts on a community's health, a significant finding that has implications for the maintenance and future funding of this style of health service. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.