Podcast

Welcome to the Rural Road to Health Podcast!

Here we will travel along the rural road to health through conversations with students, clinicians, researchers, policy makers, advocates; people that live and work in rural areas around the world. Through these conversations we will try to gain insights into the current state of affairs in rural health globally and explore ideas that could help us move towards better access to health services for all communities.

Dr Roshni Jhan Ganguly – Project SETU Foundation Trust – Rural Road to Health

Dr Roshni Jhan Ganguly, a family doctor and founder of Project SETU Foundation Trust. Dr Roshni identified that there was a gap between urban and rural healthcare. About 70% of India's population lives in villages where access to primary health care services may not be easily accessible. Project SETU was created to be the bridge that connects urban physicians with rural health care. Today we will talk to her about Project Setu and its mission. Episode summary: 01.30 Dr Roshni tells us more about her professional background and interest in rural health 03.30 What is project SETU and why was it started? 10.30 What is the rural context like where she works? 15.45 What challenges are communities facing when needing to access healthcare services? 19.30 What kind of services does project SETU provide and what is the impact of those activities? 25.45 What challenges has she faced while doing this work? 29.00 What are some key lessons when engaging with communities? 35.00 How important is trust in the work that they do? 38.30 What are her hopes for Project SETU going forward? Key Messages: Family medicine is not confined to the four walls of a clinic. She thought why not really serve the people who really need it. Project SETu Foundation Trust was born from the question – how do we build bridges rather than provide temporary solutions?. The vision is to bridge the gap between healthcare and hope, the urban expertise and rural needs, and between illness and wellness. Project SETU evolved into a holistic community development organization where healthcare became the entry point but it was not the destination. Villages in India are different, generally the population comprises of the state population and indigenous population. India has many different languages, cuisines and cultures. A typical village will have thatched houses, mud houses or brick houses. The cooking medium may be a stove which is fueled by cow dung. Women take care of the household and can be farmers. Male population is mostly farmers. There is also a migrating population which may be travelling to the cities for work. The population of the village can be about 50000 people. ASHA workers (Accredited Social Health Activists) go door to door and check on people. They are community health workers funded by the government. They find out about the needs of the population and collaborate with local healthcare workers. Community development is not easy and requires consistency, consistency requires resources. Building trust takes time, deep rooted beliefs and behavior can not be changed overnight. Project SETU initially does a needs assessment survey and get the community together to talke about health awareness and the community share their challenges. This is how they begin to build trust. Then they organize some health screening camps. Project SETU collaborates with other organizations so that they can provide other training that the community needs such as training for farmers on organic farming. Project SETU also finds out about the activities and products being produced in the community and helps to promote these more widely. In this way they support local economies. During this process they build a local team with the village they are serving which then keep the services going and continue to connect the village to project SETU. It was a challenge to get everyone together at the same time and in the same place. Different political influences have been a challenge they have faced. By engaging the community and supporting their livelihoods the community feels like they can trust what is being done. It is important to understand the local language, customs and culture. Sports, art, dance and music can be great enablers and a way to support young people develop and achieve their dreams. Email: projectsetu.ft@gmail.com Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health! Rural Health Compass

Season 4 Wrap-up

Highlights from season 4 and find out what is planned for season 5 of the Rural Road to Health.

Available 20th August 2026.

Project SETU Foundation Trust

Dr Roshni Jhan Ganguly, a family doctor and founder of Project SETU foundation trust. About 70% of India’s population lives in villages where access to primary health care services may not be easily accessible. Project SETU was created to be the bridge that connects urban physicians with rural health care and communties. We talk about Project SETU and its mission.

Available 10th August 2026.

Rural Food Environments

Prof Alexandra Johnstone & Dr Daniel Crabtree share insights from their research into food insecurity and obesity as well as rural food environments. Learn more about the unique challenges rural and remote communities encounter when trying to access healthy and affordable food.

Available 30th July 2026.

European LEADER Association for Rural Development

Piotr Sadlocha is the president of ELARD. He shares his experience of working with Local Actions Groups in Poland and highlights some of the challenges faced by rural communities in Europe

Available 20th July 2026.

Educational Isolation & The Pretty Poverty Report

Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope is Professor of Education and Dean of Place and Social Purpose at Plymouth Marjon University in the UK. She has spent many years exploring social inequity and educational disparity in coastal, rural and small schools. She has also led on the Pretty Poverty report which looks at how current government measures underestimate rural and coastal poverty in Cornwall.

Available 10th July 2026.

Farmers & Dementia (Mind Our Farmers)

Martin Robertson, a lived experience expert and Faye Watson, a Public and Community Engagement Consultant, speak about Mind Our Farmers, the project they are leading to start conversations about dementia in farming communities in Scotland.

Available 30th June 2026.

Rural Health in Greece

Prof Ioanna Tsiligianni is a rural doctor, Professor in General Practice and Public Health at the University of Crete and the President-elect of WONCA Europe. She talks about her experiences in rural practice in rural Crete, her research interests and her plans for her term as WONCA president.

Available 20th June 2026.

Perspectives on Rural Clinical Careers

Three rural clinicians share their perspective on their rural health career. They share what they like and don’t like about rural practice as well as what they do for their wellbeing.

Available 10th June 2026.

Diversity in Rural Health Leadership

Dr Sarah Lesperance and Dr Sarah Chalmers speak about their work exploring the leadership journeys of diverse medical leaders following their workshop at the 21st WONCA World Rural Health conference. They invite listeners to share their leadership stories to support their research.

Available 30th May 2026.

Rural WONCA GRACE Initiative

This is the first of three episodes recorded during the 21st WONCA World Rural Health Conference. This episode is an introduction to GRACE – Global Rural Health Action, Collaboration and Excellence. You will here from GRACE partners about why they have joined the initiative and what they hope it will achieve.

Available 20th May 2026.

Rural Minds: Farmers’ Mental Health

Dr Daniel James is a rural GP based in Suffolk, England. As one of the creators of the Rural Minds project, he speaks about how they are using immersive virtual reality to help medical professionals understand farming life and the mental health challenges of farmers.

Available 10th May 2026.

Sustainable Communities Lampeter

Mari Thomas is Research and Development Officer at Rural Health and Care Wales. We talk about the Sustainable Communities Lampeter project. This project focuses on building community resilience by using existing community assets. Mari shares key lessons from the project.

Available 30th April 2026.

Long Way Home: Education & Community Transformation

Matt Paneitz is the Executive Director of Long Way Home, an organization which works on sustainable education and community transformation. He shares his experience of working with an Indigenous community in Guatemala on improving access to education and using waste in innovative ways.

Available 20th April 2026.

Rural Health Equity Chat & Call to Action

Find out more about the work of Rural Health Compass and the recently published report on the Rural Health Equity Chats. Discussions with this online community have identified the need for community-led policy solutions and a rural health equity strategy.

Available 10th April 2026.

Dementia Friendly Ceredigion

Michelle Symes, Research and Development Officer at Rural Health and Care Wales, talks about the project they worked on which focuses on addressing the needs of people with dementia. One of the innovative case studies being shared this season focusing on local implementation.

Available 30th March 2026.

Transforming Rural Health in Ireland

Prof Liam Glynn & Prof Peter Hayes talk about the journey of improving rural healthcare access in Ireland over the past 20 years. From the “No doctor, no village” campaign to the Rural WONCA conference and the Limerick Declaration on Rural Health.

Available 20th March 2026.

Rural Proofing: Through the Looking Glass

Betty-Ann Bryce is a Senior Policy Analyst and Rural Policy Expert at the OECD. We take a deep-dive into the rural proofing process. What it is, the importance of “rural intelligence” and why we should think about the “rural proofer”.

Available 10th March 2026.

Welcome to Season 4!

Bringing you new episodes to expand your understanding of rural health, rural health equity, and rural policy advocacy.

Available 20th February 2026.