September 20, 1999 For Immediate Release

The University of Northern British Columbia and the Office of Rural Health - Health Canada are co-presenting a summit meeting on research in rural health. The Summit will be held in Prince George October 23 - 25.

The Summit will gather national leaders in research in rural health to develop a research plan for improving the health of people in rural communities. The themes are:

• Population Health - Investigating the factors that contribute to the relative health of groups of people.
• Populations at Risk - Who are the rural people experiencing different health risks than people living in urban centres and why?
• Health Care Services - What are the geographic factors that influence access to health care and how can access in rural areas be optimized?
• Information Technology - Using technology to provide better information to patients and facilitate effective delivery of health care services.

About 120 people from across Canada have been invited to attend the National Summit. Dr Max Blouw, a co-chair of the conference and UNBC's Associate Vice-President - Research, states that "Interest has been overwhelming, especially from northern BC. Unfortunately we cannot accommodate all those who have expressed an interest in attending. In response to the strong interest from BC, UNBC will be hosting a follow-up provincial conference in late January, which will give BC's health providers and researchers an opportunity to engage in the process of developing a set of priorities for research in rural and remote health. We hope that the identification of priorities will stimulate an action plan to engage in research that will most effectively complement the national research blueprint in providing health benefits to the people of the rural and remote region of BC."

UNBC has a national presence in rural and northern health research. There are projects, for example, on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, First Nations access to mainstream health care services, and rural nursing practice. The University has also recently developed a new certificate program in Northern and Rural Nursing.