Health & social care in the community
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Health Soc Care Community · Sep 2019
Experiences and perceptions of residential and home care services among older lesbian women and gay men in Australia.
The needs of older lesbian and gay people regarding access and use of aged-care services remain underresearched. This paper reports the findings of 33 qualitative interviews with older lesbian women and gay men about their perceptions and experiences of residential aged-care and home-based aged-care services in Australia. The focus of this paper is their preparedness for using aged-care services. ⋯ Participants noted a number of strategies they employed in avoiding residential-care services, including the use of home-care services, renovating the home for increased mobility, moving to locations with greater access to outside home-care services, a preference for lesbian/gay-specific housing and residential-care options if available, and the option of voluntary euthanasia to ensure dignity and autonomy. Participants, on the whole, were hopeful that they would never require the use of residential-care services, with some believing that having current good health or the support of friends could prevent this from happening. The findings suggest that older lesbian and gay people have a variety of concerns with aged-care and may need additional support and education to improve their perceptions and experiences of services, whether these are needed presently or in the future.
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Health Soc Care Community · Sep 2019
Development and psychometric evaluation of the community care competency scale in multi-ethnic undergraduate nursing students.
Preparing healthcare students for community care has been emphasised due to the global ageing population. An instrument to measure students' community care competency is lacking. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a new scale known as Community Care Competency Scale (CCCS) for measuring nursing students' community care competency. ⋯ The Cronbach's alpha of 0.94 indicated excellent internal consistency. The CCCS is a valid, reliable and easy-to-administer instrument that measures community care competency. This instrument will contribute to the empirical body of knowledge on evaluating the effectiveness of community care educational programmes for nursing students to prepare future healthcare professionals.
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Health Soc Care Community · Sep 2019
"Automatic assumption of your gender, sexuality and sexual practices is also discrimination": Exploring sexual healthcare experiences and recommendations among sexually and gender diverse persons in Arctic Canada.
Sexual and mental health disparities are reported in Arctic Canada as in other Arctic regions that experience shared challenges of insufficient healthcare resources, limited transportation, and a scarcity of healthcare research. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons (LGBTQ+) report sexual and mental health disparities in comparison with their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts, and these disparities may be exacerbated in rural versus urban settings. Yet limited research has explored sexual healthcare experiences among LGBTQ+ persons in the Arctic who are at the juncture of Arctic and LGBTQ+ health disparities. ⋯ LGBTQ+ persons experienced LGBTQ+, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections stigma in healthcare. Participants also discussed healthcare provider recommendations to better serve LGBTQ+ persons: non-judgment, knowledge of LGBTQ+ health issues, and gender inclusivity. Findings can inform multi-level strategies to reduce intersecting stigma in communities and healthcare, transform healthcare education, and build LGBTQ+ persons' healthcare navigation skills.
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Health Soc Care Community · Sep 2019
Educational needs of healthcare professionals and members of the general public in Alberta Canada, 2 years after the implementation of medical assistance in dying.
Medical assistance in dying (MAID) was implemented across Canada in June of 2016, after each Canadian province and territory had developed their own MAID processes. Over the first 2 years, just under 300 Alberta citizens received MAID services, a very small proportion (<0.5%) of all 52,000 decedents. An online 2017-2018 survey of Alberta healthcare providers and members of the general public was conducted to assess and compare their knowledge of MAID. ⋯ Healthcare professionals were significantly more often correct; as were participants born in Canada, university degree holders, working persons, those who identified a religion, had experience with death and dying care, had direct prior experience with death hastening, thought adults had a right to request and receive MAID, had past experience with animal euthanasia, and had hospice/palliative education or work experience. Age, gender, and having previously worked or lived in a country where assisted suicide or euthanasia was performed were not significant for educational needs. These findings indicate new approaches to meet sudden assisted suicide educational needs are needed.
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Health Soc Care Community · Jul 2019
Factors influencing interprofessional collaboration between community pharmacists and general practitioners-A systematic review.
Effective interprofessional collaboration is critical for sustaining high quality care in the context of the increasing burden on primary healthcare services. Despite this, there is limited understanding of the factors contributing to effective collaboration between general practitioners and community pharmacists. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the factors that impact on interprofessional collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs). ⋯ Experience of collaboration with the other party led to greater understanding of each other's capabilities and potential role in co-delivering patient care. The physical environment was also identified as important, with co-location and other resources to facilitate clear and regular communication identified as important facilitators of interprofessional collaboration. The review findings highlight a range of approaches that may positively influence interprofessional collaboration between GPs and CPS such as co-location, co-education to understand the professional capabilities of each group, and utilising compatible technologies to facilitate communication between the two professions.