We will eventually find a vaccine for COVID-19, but we might never find a cure for the mental health issues that come from it.
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It's a sentiment that was shared by Royal Flying Doctor Service Tasmania chief executive John Kirwan this week, based on research starting to emerge from areas like the UK.
People who have lost their jobs, a business or experienced a breakdown in a relationship. There seems to be almost no end to some of the broader ramifications this virus has inflicted on communities and entire countries. That's not even factoring in the loss of life.
Tasmania, and Australia more broadly, has been largely praised for its response. After all, responding to an emergency is what the health industry is best at - triage. So yes, we have reacted well, but how we recover will ultimately be the biggest test for Tasmania.
Because while the threat of a second wave of coronavirus remains in our eye of sight, many - particularly those in the health industry - are bracing for something else. What's predicted to be a tsunami of mental ill-health in communities that have been particularly hard hit.
In Tasmania, social isolation and access to health resources has been an issue for some time. An organisation like the RFDS plays a critical role in facilitating outreach services to those who would otherwise go without.
Up until around March, they were continuing to manage demand in communities. Now, they will likely be playing catch up.
As put by Mr Kirwan, "some of the issues will be long-term and deeply embedded. But how we access them and how we provide early intervention to stop things escalating will be the challenge now."
People who live in rural and remote areas are disproportionately more likely to experience poor health outcomes. As an island state, this demographic makes up a large chunk of our population.
So as we look to our recovery, we can't afford for rural and remote communities to be left out of the picture.
If anything, this should serve as an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the areas most vulnerable to poorer health outcomes and to ask ourselves why, and how do we fix it?
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