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. 2025 Jan 20;22(1):126.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph22010126.

A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Rural Primary Healthcare Professionals' Capacity for Disaster Health Management Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ehmaidy Al Qaf'an  1 , Stewart Alford  2   3 , Holly A Mack  1 , Ravneet Sekhon  4 , Samuel Gray  5 , Kiara Song  5 , Katie Willson  5 , Glynn Kelly  6 , David Lim  1
Affiliations

A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Rural Primary Healthcare Professionals' Capacity for Disaster Health Management Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ehmaidy Al Qaf'an et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Rural areas face additional challenges in preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. This study aimed to understand how rural primary healthcare professionals (PHCPs) perceive their roles, involvement, and capacity in disaster health management.

Methods: For this qualitative descriptive research, semi-structured interviews were carried out with convenience and purposive samples of rural PHCPs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Open, axial, and selective coding were employed to analyse the data inductively.

Results: Five interviews were conducted before the pandemic, and ten interviews were conducted during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. The themes identified were similar between the two periods. Rural PHCPs were underutilised due to a lack of awareness of their capacity and a lack of infrastructure and support for greater involvement.

Conclusions: Rural PHCPs can be better integrated and supported in readiness for a whole-system response to future disasters. This study recommends empowering PHCPs in disaster management to promote the health and continuity of care in rural communities.

Keywords: COVID-19; disaster health management; general practitioners; primary healthcare; rural health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author, Ravneet Sekhon, is an employee of Central and Eastern Sydney PHN. The authors have no financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived to influence the content or conclusions presented in this work. Each author has reviewed and approved the manuscript for submission.

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