Research news

Graphic: Best for the Bush Rural and Remote Health Baseline 2023

Primary care access vital for better health outcomes in remote Australia

27 Mar 2024

The second annual Royal Flying Doctor Service ‘Best for the Bush, Rural and remote Health Base Line’ report was released today.

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Mental Health in the Bush: Access a fifth the rate of city

26 Aug 2019

RFDS research published by the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals more about mental health in the bush and access to mental health services.

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RFDS and Hearing Australia Trial

01 Jun 2019

A research paper entitled “Evaluation of the Royal Flying Doctor service and Australian Hearing Hearing Screening Trial” has been released.

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Service Planning and Operational Tool

01 Feb 2019

As an Australian first, the RFDS use a Service Planning and Operational Tool called ‘SPOT’. SPOT is a custom made software, developed to assist the RFDS in planning where services should be located, relative to need. This is done by mapping existing services and overlaying these with population data

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Looking Ahead Research Paper

16 Jan 2019

The Royal Flying Doctor Service does research into issues pertaining to rural health, towards improved service provision to Outback Australia.

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90 Years of Unparalleled Service

09 Oct 2018

The RFDS has evolved from an early vision of an “aerial experiment” into a remarkable 24-hour, 7 days a week health service to enable people in rural and remote Australia, and who are beyond regular medical infrastructure, to access medical care in metropolitan-based tertiary hospitals.

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Looking Ahead - Health Needs of Country Australians in Ten Years Time

30 Sep 2018

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Study finds higher bush cardiac deaths are preventable

28 Mar 2018

New Flying Doctor research, titled Cardiovascular health in remote and rural communities found that remote Australians are 1.6 times more likely to be hospitalised for coronary heart disease than people in major cities, and 1.3 times more likely to die.

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Embedding cultural safety in Australia's main health care standards

10 Jul 2017

In Australia, the existing health safety and quality standards are insufficient to ensure culturally safe care for Indigenous patients in order to achieve optimum care outcomes.

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Loading a patient aeromedical transfer

Providing Aeromedical Care to Remote Indigenous Communities

17 Aug 2016

This research considers the health of Indigenous Australians living in remote and very remote areas. It details illness and accident demand for aeromedical retrievals of Indigenous Australians by the RFDS from remote and very remote Australia.

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​Country kids face twice as many tooth fillings as city cousins

07 Oct 2015

A new research report released by the Royal Flying Doctor Service in September shines a spotlight on oral health for country Australians.

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