Bmc Fam Pract
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Despite Canada's universal healthcare system, significant barriers impede individuals experiencing homelessness from accessing health services. Furthermore, there is a paucity in the qualitative literature describing how Canadians experiencing homelessness access health care services. Our objective was to qualitatively explore perceived healthcare needs and barriers among individuals experiencing homelessness in one large Canadian city - Calgary, Alberta. ⋯ Our findings highlight the diverse primary health care needs of Calgary's homeless populations. Despite the fact that Canada has a universal publicly funded health care system, individuals experiencing homelessness face significant barriers in accessing primary care.
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Mental health and/or substance use issues are associated with significant disparities in morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to identify the mechanisms underlying poor primary care access for this population. ⋯ This study helps elucidate the mechanisms behind poor primary health care access among people with substance use and/or mental health issues. The results suggest that interdisciplinary, collaborative models of primary healthcare may improve accessibility and quality of care for this population, and that more education about mental health and substance use issues may be needed to support service providers in providing adequate care for their clients.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
General practitioners versus other physicians in the quality of primary care: a cross-sectional study in Guangdong Province, China.
The primary care in China can be provided by general practitioners (GPs) and other physicians (non-GPs). However, China's general practice system has never been really established. Chinese patients tend to consider the quality of primary care provided by GPs much lower than that of non-GPs. Besides, many GPs presently prefer leaving their own positions and seeking better development in big hospitals, which has made the already weak GP system weaker. Yet, few studies have specially compared the quality of primary care provided by Chinese GPs and other physicians and no studies have explored the independent predictors of Chinese GPs' intentions to stay on their current job. In this study, we aimed to compare the quality of primary care offered by GPs with non-GPs and to explore the independent predictors of GPs' future work intentions. ⋯ Our findings showed that GPs reported higher quality of primary care than other physicians, and were more inclined to stay in their current job. With more comprehensive care and community orientation provided by GPs, residents could reach basic medical cares and needn't to crowd into larger hospitals.
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Smoking, excessive drinking, lack of exercise and a poor diet remain key causes of premature morbidity and mortality globally, yet it is not clear what proportion of patients attending for routine primary care are eligible for interventions about these behaviours, the extent to which they co-occur within individuals, and which individuals are at greatest risk for multiple unhealthy behaviours. The aim of the trial was to examine 'intervention eligibility' and co-occurrence of the 'big four' risky health behaviours - lack of exercise, smoking, an unhealthy diet and excessive drinking - in a primary care population. ⋯ Very few patients consulting for routine primary care screen ineligible for interventions about common unhealthy behaviours, and most engage in more than one of the major common unhealthy behaviours. Clinicians should be particularly alert to opportunities to engaging younger, non professional men and those with multi-morbidity about risky health behaviour.
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Fever in children is common and mostly caused by benign self-limiting infections. Yet consultation rates in primary care are high, especially during GP out-of-hours care. Therefore, we aimed to explore experiences of parents when having visited GP out-of-hours services with their febrile child. ⋯ Parents were inexperienced in self-management strategies and had a subsequent desire for reassurance; this played a pivotal role in out-of-hours help seeking for childhood fever. These factors provide clues to optimise information exchange between GPs and parents, by providing written, tailored, consistent information on self-management strategies for current and future fever episodes. GPs' had incorrect assumptions that parents expected antibiotic treatment.