The GCH Rural Health Research Group has an opportunity for a Masters project. The project would suit someone with an interest in rural health, public health, or hauora Māori.

Are rural patients disadvantaged in their access to radiation oncology?

Radiation oncology treatment is one of the main treatment options available to treat cancer along with surgery and chemotherapy. About 1/3^rd of cancer patients will receive radiation therapy as part of their treatment plan. Radiation treatment can be used as part of a regime to slow cancer growth or the spread of metastases in patients who are being treated with palliative intent – or increasingly can be used as part of a curative cancer plan. Previous research has suggested that distance from a palliative care centre influences the likelihood of receiving radiation treatment. There are also differences in the use of radiation treatment by ethnicity. There are currently seven radiation treatment centres in New Zealand located in major urban centres. The Geographic Classification for Health (GCH) provides a classification system where urban is categorised into U1 (most urban) and U2 and rurality is categorised into 3 groups R1, R2, and R3 (most remote). All patients treated with radiation therapy are recorded in a Radiation Oncology Collection (ROC) along with data on the number of treatments, the type of cancer being treated, and whether the treatment is aimed as a curative or palliative treatment. This project involves mapping the GCH to the meshblock (small geographic area) containing the ROC patient’s usual address to ascertain whether there are disparities in palliative and curative radiation treatment for rural patients compared to urban patients and whether these disparities exist for Māori and for different cancers.

For more information, please contact:

Prof. Ross Lawrenson, School of Health, Uni Waikato.                 Ross.Lawrenson@waikatodhb.health.nz

Assoc Prof Gabrielle Davie, Preventive and Social Medicine, Uni Otago.      gabrielle.davie@otago.ac.nz

Prof Sue Crengle, Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit, Uni Otago.            sue.crengle@otago.ac.nz

Prof Garry Nixon, General Practice and Rural Health, Uni Otago.                    garry.nixon@otago.ac.nz