Climate-Related Natural Disasters: Reflections on an Agenda for Rural Health Research

Abstract

The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters will exacerbate the health inequities that already exist between people living in rural communities and those living in urban areas. There is a need to improve understanding of the differences in the impacts on and needs of rural communities, in order that policy, adaptation, mitigation, response and recovery efforts meet the needs of those who are most affected by flooding and who have the fewest resources to mitigate the impact and adapt to the increased flood risk. This paper is a reflection by a rural-based academic on the significance and experience of community-based flood-related research, with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for research on rural health and climate change. From an equity perspective, there is a need for all analyses of national and regional datasets on climate and health to, wherever possible, examine the differential impacts and policy and practice implications for regional, remote and urban communities. At the same time, there is a need to build local capacity in rural communities for community-based participatory action research, and to enhance this capacity through building networks and collaborations between different researchers based in rural areas, and between rural- and urban-based researchers. We should also encourage the documentation, evaluation and sharing of experience and lessons from local and regional efforts to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on health in rural communities.