El médico de familia rural en la promoción de la salud: perspectivas desde Andalucía

The rural environment is eminently diverse and complex, and the concept of rurality is controversial and contentious depending on the countries and the context. However, there is a set of global dynamics that affect rural enclaves and their social organization, as well as the social determinants on which much of the health of their inhabitants depends. The family doctor in rural areas is in a strategic position thanks to the knowledge of her or his territory and community, and her or his close relation to it that is needed to carry out a contextual analysis of these external influences on the functioning of the community, on the conditions and lifestyles that affect the people in the community. In addition, rural medicine as a professional setting for the promotion of health, has a mobilizing instrument, the social capital that the rural doctor is able to accumulate to a greater extent than in an urban environment, in order to carry out empowering and salutogenic participatory-based community actions and to advocate for health. Likewise, the family doctor and the provision of health services are key pieces in the process of healing, assisting and caring for the development and support of rural enclaves, in order to maintain the habitability of these communities and to effectively exercise the right to equitable health services.