Defining rural in Aotearoa New Zealand: a novel geographic classification for health purposes.

Aim: Describe the first specifically designed and validated five-level rurality classification for health purposes in New Zealand that is both data-driven and incorporates heuristic understandings of rurality.

Method: Our approach involved: (1) defining the purpose and parameters of a proposed five-level Geographic Classification for Health (GCH); (2) developing a quantitative framework; (3) undertaking co-design with the National Rural Health Advisory Group (NRHAG), and extensive consultation with key stakeholders; (4) testing the validity of the five-level GCH and comparing it to previous Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) rurality classifications; and (5) describing rural populations and identifying differences in all-cause mortality using the GCH and previous Stats NZ rurality classifications.

Results: The GCH is a technically robust and heuristically valid rurality classification for health purposes.

Developing the geographic classification for health, a rural-urban classification for New Zealand health research and policy: A research protocol.

Introduction: Rural-urban health inequities, exacerbated by deprivation and ethnicity, have been clearly described in the international literature. To date, the same inequities have not been as clearly demonstrated in Aotearoa New Zealand despite the lower socioeconomic status and higher proportion of Māori living in rural towns. This is ascribed by many health practitioners, academics and other informed stakeholders to be the result of the definitions of 'rural' used to produce statistics.

The price of 'free'. Quantifying the costs incurred by rural residents attending publically funded outpatient clinics in rural and base hospitals.

INTRODUCTION Rural living is associated with increased costs in many areas, including health care. However, there is very little local data to quantify these costs, and their unknown quantity means that costs are not always taken into account in health service planning and delivery. AIM The aim of this study was to calculate the average time and travel costs of attending rural and base hospital outpatient clinics for rural Central Otago residents.