title: Living in a rural area with advanced chronic respiratory illness: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the impact of living with advanced chronic respiratory illness in a rural area
  
  
  METHODS
  Using an interpretive descriptive approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven people living with advanced chronic respiratory illness in a rural area of Western Canada.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Themes that characterised the experience of living in a rural setting with a chronic obstructive respiratory illness included: a) distance as a barrier to accessing health care; b) relationships with family practice physicians; c) supportive local community; and d) lack of respiratory education and peer support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whilst living with advanced respiratory illness in a rural area posed some significant challenges, experiences of "place", conceptualised as a web of relationships embedded within a local context, are an important factor in rural residents' decisions to remain in situations where distance may present significant challenges to accessing health care.
authors.affiliation: University of Saskatchewan, College of Nursing, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. donna.goodridge@usask.ca
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goodridge
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001987:Bronchiectasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012307:Risk Factors; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D012424:Rural Population; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012525:Saskatchewan; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome