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Introduction: A growing body of research has examined the physical, psychological, social and financial impacts of living kidney donation. However, little is known about the unique experiences or additional burdens faced by living donors from regional or remote locations. Objective: To explore the experiences of living kidney donors who live outside metropolitan centres and to determine how support services could be orientated to better meet their unique needs. Design/Setting/Participants: Seventeen living kidney donors participated in semistructured telephone interviews. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Eight themes were identified: (1) donor's emotional well‐being is influenced by the recipient's outcome, (2) varied levels of access to medical support and other important services in rural areas, (3) travel takes a toll on time, finances and well‐being, (4) varied level of financial impact, (5) medical, emotional and social challenges, (6) both lay and health professional support is valued, (7) varied levels of knowledge and experiences accessing information and (8) a worthwhile experience overall. Conclusion: Despite many challenges, and travel adding to the complexity, rural living kidney donors generally consider it to be a worthwhile experience. The provision of additional emotional, practical and educational support would be welcomed by this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To determine differences in walking for recreation and transport between Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia ( ARIA) categories, in South Australian adults. Design Cross-sectional self-reported data from adult telephone survey respondents between April and May in 2012 and 2013. Setting Population of South Australia. Participants A total of 4004 adults (aged over 18 years) participated: n = 1956 men and n = 2048 women. Area of residence was categorised using ARIA (major city, inner regional, outer regional and remote/very remote). Main outcome measure(s) Self-reported participation in walking for transport and recreation/exercise as the number of times and minutes per week. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis test for median minutes and negative binomial regression for times walked with adjustment for socioeconomic status, age and body mass index. Results Average age was 47.8 ± 18.5 years, 51.1% were women, 70.9% lived in the major cities, 14.6% in inner regional, 10.8% in outer regional and 3.6% in remote/very remote areas. Relative to major city, times walked for recreation was lower for only remote/very remote residents (incidence rate ratio ( IRR) 0.74 (95% CI 0.59-0.92), P = 0.008). This difference was only observed for men ( IRR 0.54 (95% CI 0.39-0.73), P < 0.001). Relative to major city, times walked for transport was less for inner regional ( IRR 0.74 (95% CI 0.67-0.85), P < 0.001) and outer regional ( IRR 0.64 (95% CI 0.56-0.74), P < 0.001) only. This difference in transport walking was seen in both men and women. Conclusion Frequency of walking varied by purpose, level of remoteness and sex. As walking is the focus of population-level health promotion, more detailed understanding of the aetiology of regular walking is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study aimed to richly describe previously inactive Riverland adults' experiences of commencing and maintaining a walking routine following participation in a walking intervention. Design Qualitative description using semi-structured in-depth interviews and thematic analysis. Setting Riverland, South Australia. Participants Nine adults (four men and five women) aged between 40 and 65 years. Intervention Six-week walking intervention included issuing of pedometers, setting goals, completing logs and weekly emails to remind participants to wear their pedometers, recording of steps and provision of strategies for increasing daily steps. Main outcome measures Rich description of participants' experiences represented by four themes and a number of subthemes, supported by direct quotes. Results Four themes: taking care of me through my walk, pedometers and accountability as motivators, fitting walking in and commencing and maintaining a walking routine. Conclusions The participants' experience of commencing a walking routine differed from maintaining a walking routine. Future attempts to support maintenance of a walking routine may be strengthened through identifying and including ways to provide accountability for walking to others beyond the intervention as well as strategies that support the integration of walking into every activity. Furthermore, future walking interventions should enable participants to tailor their walks to their own preferences and mental health benefits of walking should be promoted at least as much as the physical benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]