Academic research into rural iss-ues is a mixed bag, says an Alberta researcher.
Judith Kulig, a nursing professor at the University of Lethbridge, said rural research focuses on more than economic development. It often incorporates a social side that explores the grassroots people and the links between communities on common issues.
“I think there has been more credence to rural issues; a bit of a ground-swell,” she said.
The impetus probably came a couple of years ago when a federal agency called the Canadian Institute of Health Research saw that rural health was a “crosscutting area” that needed more funding.
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While the research now happens across Canada, Kulig said some universities do more of it than others. She noted the U of L has a long tradition of incorporating rural health issues and practices into its nursing courses. Her own recent study has been looking at the forms of violence done by rural and small town teenagers in Alberta.
Kulig said rural researchers work with rural people, “not on or to them.”
Researchers looking at rural health have formed a national society that plans to meet in October at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont.
When asked whether she thought prime minister Paul Martin might be more inclined to fund rural policies, Kulig said: “He’s talked about supporting cities as much or more than western issues, so I’m not holding my breath to see if he puts priority on rural issues.”
