Table 3 Major theme and subthemes: Personal influences
  Subthemes | Examples |
|---|---|
Influence of family and children | We were looking for the quiet, manageable, get the kids to all the things we wanted them to have the opportunity to do, and that's why we moved rurally. (G6-SP-Female-age 50) I was just after a change, a lifestyle change. A change of pace, as well. And I guess – well, all my family is in the city, so that’s been the hardest thing, being so far away. It might be a factor in making a consider moving, but we’ll see how that goes (G3-OT-Female-age 27) |
Rural lifestyle and rural origin | I grew up in the country, I didn’t grow up in this area, though, so I always wanted to get back to the bush to work (G4-PSY-Female-age 36) |
Community support | 3 or 4 years ago I did a locum out here and thought that this community was a wonderful community and my colleagues were wonderful, and there was a kind of appreciation for what I thought was just doing my job that was different to metropolitan centres (G5-MGR-Female-age 44) |
Embeddedness in community life | You know, 5 years ago I would have worked for 12 months and then moved on to find somewhere new, but I’m all settled now, and I’m happy where I am. (G2-OT-Female-age 33) |
Community infrastructure | Schools We’re really happy with all the primary schools here… but the high schools are a bit of a worry. So we’ll really have to think about what high schools for the kids (G3-PSY-Male-age 46) Jobs I think it's one of the problems for people that have partners. This town has had a real hollowing out of what we might call white-collar positions over the last 15 years… Most public service offices have been moved out of the town and I think that makes it hard for couples to think about coming here. (G1- PSY-Female-age 57) Accommodation If someone's really interested in coming here they ask about the accommodation, and they ask about what does it have to offer, you know, sport or the arts or whatever, you know, their interests, what sort of groups are there and that sort of thing, because it is a lifestyle thing. (G5-MGR-Female-age 56) |