A research team including academics from the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute has been awarded over $1 million dollars in funding to study rural patients at risk of heart disease.
The Healthy Rural Hearts or HealthyRHearts project, funded by the Federal Government’s Medical Research Futures Fund, will connect people in rural areas currently living with heart disease, or at risk of heart disease, to a highly qualified nutrition service that supports them in reducing risk factors.
Participants will be supported to make dietary changes with the guidance of their GP and the HealthyRHearts research team.
Led by University of Newcastle Laureate Professor Clare Collins, the project will also ask participants to identify nutritional changes they are able and willing to adopt.
Dr Tracy Schumacher, Clinical Teaching and Research Academic at the University of Newcastle and Project Manager of the study, said it was important that researchers target rural health in particular.
“We know that rural communities experience higher rates of heart disease, which could be due to a number of factors.”
“Health messaging may not be resonating as well with rural people, so we are trying a different way.
“This study sets out to trial a dietitian intervention that is tailored to the individual to see if it can reduce risk factors and the risk of future heart disease,” she said.
The Healthy Rural Hearts or HealthyRHearts project is a collaboration between the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Primary Health Network, Hunter Medical Research Institute and NSW Regional Health Partners, with project staff based at the Department of Rural Health in Tamworth.
Tamworth sits in the NSW New England region, which has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the state.
Dr Schumacher’s colleague and fellow researcher Professor Jenny May said the study is an opportunity to determine the solutions that work for regional communities.
“It is a very important opportunity for rural people to be involved in research that is specific to them,” Dr Schumacher added.
“The majority of research in Australia has participants from metropolitan areas, whereas this one is for regions like ours.”
“We can represent ourselves in things that relate to our own heart health.”
Dr Schumacher said the project was also being delivered by people who understand what it is like to reside in regional and rural areas.
“Importantly, it means that the people delivering the service have an appreciation of what rural life is like and that we have individual needs that relate to our own situations.”
“For example, people in the study wouldn’t be asked to pop into their nearest grocery store to pick up a specialty item that likely isn’t available for 300km,” she said.
The challenge of distance is not only a challenge represented to patients, but one Schumacher said researchers had encountered in their study already, which was only “in its early days”.
“The study is being run through general practices and we have to be able to support the normal ways rural residents access health care.”
“Doing research over large rural areas is time consuming, requires flexibility and patience, but is nonetheless important,” she said.
Maia O’Connor