3. Focus on a rural health issueA rural population health approach uses evidence to assess the health status of the population and respond to identified needs. Evidence-informed practice uses population health assessments, surveillance, research and program evaluation to generate evidence (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care 2008). It answers the following questions: How healthy is the rural population? How do we know? What are the community's priorities? Are there any emerging issues? What are the priority populations? How does the health of the population look over time? Is the population health status getting worse or better?