The rural context of health care provision.

By first laying out some of the major threads involved in the fabric of rurality and rural care, we consider the major interrelated issues in rural care provision before reviewing the larger universal contextual issues of rurality and care. By reflecting on the many definitions of 'rural', we infer that defining 'rural' is a difficult research and practice challenge. We conclude by suggesting that a holistic, place-specific definition of 'rural' may provide the basis to best understand the attributes and challenges of rural places in addressing the complex and problematic professional context of rural interprofessional care provision.