A pilot study of an educational service for rural mental health practitioners in South Australia using telemedicine.

Studies have found that rural patients want to be treated in their local hospitals. However, there have been difficulties with recruiting and retaining professionals in rural areas of Australia. Isolation, lack of professional development programmes, lack of academic programmes, lack of peer consultation and the need to travel long distances are some of the reasons identified in the National Rural Health strategy. A pilot service of educational programmes delivered by telemedicine was initiated and then evaluated. Forty-six community mental health workers from nine rural areas and 20 general practitioners from five rural areas participated. High satisfaction with the use of telemedicine was recorded by both groups. Telemedicine reduced the disincentives to rural practice, and also improved the professionals' competence and confidence in managing patients with psychiatric illness.