Continuing care in rural Alberta: A scoping review.

Across Canada the demand for continuing care services is increasing. However, little is known about the implications this has for rural communities. This scoping review identifies several key themes in the literature related to continuing care in Alberta. These include contextual factors, quality assurance and improvement, and workforce issues. We identify the ways in which rural dynamics are included in, or omitted from, this literature and recommend areas for future research on rural continuing care provision. Further research on residential care services in rural communities should work towards bridging the rural health, academic, and organizational literature on continuing care. This synthesis will help to position rurality as a determinant of health and to situate continuing care services in specific rural settings. Key Messages: The literature on continuing care in Alberta primarily focuses on quality assurance and improvement and the changing structure of the continuing care workforce.Little is known about the continuing care needs of rural Albertans.Future research ought to explore rural assets and challenges related to continuing care provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]