Living and working in rural healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study of rural family physicians' lived experiences.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been pervasive in its impact on all aspects of Canadian society. Along with its pervasiveness, the disease provided unprecedented complexity to the Canadian healthcare infrastructure, eliciting varying responses from the afflicted healthcare systems in Canada. However, insights into the various parameters and complexities endured by Canadian rural physicians and rural healthcare institutions during the pandemic have been scarce.

Virtual Healthcare in Rural and Remote Settings: A Qualitative Study of Canadian Rural Family Physicians' Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: This paper aims to explore the experiences of rural family physicians using virtual healthcare in their clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

Design: A community-based participatory approach.

Setting: Rural and remote communities in Canada.

Shared medical appointments for Innu patients with well-controlled diabetes in a Northern First Nation Community.

Introduction: The prevalence of diabetes and its complications in the Innu community of Sheshatshiu is high. We wanted to determine if shared medical appointments (SMAs) could provide culturally appropriate, effective treatment to Innu patients with relatively well-controlled diabetes, as an alternative to standard, 'one-on-one' care.

Methods: We conducted a mixed-method study including a randomised controlled trial comparing standard care versus SMAs for patients aged 18-65 years with haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) of ≤7.