Mental health of those already isolated in Gladstone and rural communities around the country will now be shaken. Sport provides an outlet for everyone in the rural areas, including women, says Fiona Gower, national president of Rural Women New Zealand. Those in rural communities have a higher rate of mental illness and a high rate of domestic violence. Those in rural communities have a higher than average rate of mental illness and suicide rate that the general population, she said. The need to keep that social interaction up while rural communities battle social isolation, Covid-19 and the drought is more important than ever before.

Source: Stuff April 13, 2020 16:52 UTC