• CJEM · Aug 2024

    Multicenter Study

    Healthcare workers' perspectives on a prescription phone program to meet the health equity needs of patients in the emergency department: a qualitative study.

    • Kathryn Hodwitz, Galo F Ginocchio, Tali Fedorovsky, Hannah Girdler, Brielle Bossin, Clara Juando-Prats, Evelyn Dell, Andrea Somers, and Jennifer Hulme.
    • Applied Health Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
    • CJEM. 2024 Aug 1; 26 (8): 570581570-581.

    ObjectivesPeople experiencing homelessness and marginalization face considerable barriers to accessing healthcare services. Increased reliance on technology within healthcare has exacerbated these inequities. We evaluated a hospital-based prescription phone program aimed to reduce digital health inequities and improve access to services among marginalized patients in Emergency Departments. We examined the perceived outcomes of the program and the contextual barriers and facilitators affecting outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a constructivist qualitative program evaluation at two urban, academic hospitals in Toronto, Ontario. We interviewed 12 healthcare workers about their perspectives on program implementation and outcomes and analyzed the interview data using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsOur analyses generated five interrelated program outcomes: building trust with patients, facilitating independence in healthcare, bridging sectors of care, enabling equitable care for marginalized populations, and mitigating moral distress among healthcare workers. Participants expressed that phone provision is critical for adequately serving patients who face barriers to accessing health and social services, and for supporting healthcare workers who often lack resources to adequately serve these patients. We identified key contextual enablers and challenges that may influence program outcomes and future implementation efforts.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that providing phones to marginalized patient populations may address digital and social health inequities; however, building trusting relationships with patients, understanding the unique needs of these populations, and operating within a biopsychosocial model of health are key to program success.© 2024. The Author(s).

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…