THE NEED FOR DISABILITY AWARENESS TRAINING AMONG RURALLY BASED AUSTRALIAN GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

This project followed a needs analysis of people with disabilities liv ing in rural and remote areas of New South Wales, Australia, in which consumers (people with disabilities and their carers or closest person ) argued that there was an urgent need for disability awareness traini ng for rurally based general medical practitioners (GPs). The project reported here explored the perceptions of rurally based GPs to determi ne whether they also perceived a need for disability awareness trainin g. It also explored GPs' awareness and use of referral services availa ble within their communities. Information gathered through questionnai res was used by a discussion group to develop recommendations. These s upport the need for disability awareness training for GPs at both unde rgraduate and in-service levels, and include strategies for providing information to rurally based professionals on an ongoing and regular b asis in order to address the difficulties they experience in keeping u p to date on issues associated with disability.