Not a medical problem? An intensive study of the attitudes and illness behaviour of low attenders with psychosocial difficulties

Patient experiences in outpatient substance use disorder treatment: A qualitative study exploring both clinical and non-clinical contexts

BACKGROUND

Addressing the persistent treatment gap in substance use disorder (SUD) remains a critical challenge, with only 13 % of Americans with SUDs receiving necessary treatment. We explored the complexities of engaging in SUD treatment from patients' perspectives and aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of their treatment experiences.

METHODS

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 34 patients who had been attending outpatient SUD clinics in New York State for 6 or less months. Participants were recruited from seven clinics using purposive sampling. Interviews were conducted between June and August 2022. We conducted thematic analysis of coded data to explore patients' experiences and preferences while navigating their treatment journeys.

RESULTS

Critical elements for a positive treatment experience included cultural humility, confidentiality, consistency, trust, peer counselors with SUD experience, a strong sense of connection, and addressing needs beyond clinical settings. These included assistance with housing and employment, participation in external clinic events, and access to amenities like coffee and snacks. Participants favored holistic treatment approaches integrating mental health and involving peer recovery counselors. However, participants also identified ineffective aspects, including rigid and generic approaches, stigmatizing attitudes, and challenges related to communities and environmental influences.

CONCLUSION

The study highlights the multifaceted nature of outpatient SUD treatment, emphasizing the integration of patient-centered, holistic, and culturally competent approaches. Tailoring interventions to individual circumstances and acknowledging the diverse needs of patients are imperative for effective healthcare practices.

Equity in patient experiences of primary care in community health centers using primary care assessment tool: a comparison of rural-to-urban migrants and urban locals in Guangdong, China

Background

The equity of rural-to-urban migrants’ health care utilization is already on China’s agenda. The Chinese government has been embarking on efforts to improve the financial and geographical accessibility of health care for migrants by strengthening primary care services and providing universal coverage. Patient experiences are equally vital to migrants’ health care utilization. To our knowledge, no studies have focused on equity in the patient experiences between migrants and locals. Based on a patient survey from Guangdong, China, which has a large number of rural-to-urban migrants, our study assessed the equity in the primary care patient experiences between rural-to-urban migrants and urban locals in the same health insurance context, since different forms of insurance can affect the patient experiences of primary care.

Methods

We stratified our samples by different insurance types into three layers. We assessed primary care patient experiences using a validated Chinese version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT), including eight primary care attributes. A ‘PCAT total score’ was calculated. Data were collected through face-to-face and one-on-one surveys in 2014. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used for each layer to generate comparable samples between rural-to-urban migrants and urban locals. Based on the matched dataset, a t-test was employed to compare the primary care patient experiences of the two groups.

Results

Using PSM, 220 patients in the rural-to-urban migrants group were matched to 220 patients in the urban locals group. After the matching, the observed confounding variables were balanced, and the PCAT scores were almost equal between the two groups. The only slight differences existed in the Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance layer and in the without basic medical insurance coverage layer.

Conclusions

Equity in the primary care patient experiences between rural-to-urban migrants and urban locals seems to have been achieved to some extent. However, there is room for improvement in the equity of coordination of care and comprehensiveness. Policy makers should consider strengthening these two dimensions by integrating the health care system. More attention should be focused on helping migrants break down language and cultural barriers and improving the patient-physician communication process.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12939-018-0758-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Health literacy and refugees' experiences of the health examination for asylum seekers - a Swedish cross-sectional study

Background

The purpose of the health examination for asylum seekers in most countries is to identify poor health in order to secure the well-being of seekers of asylum and to guarantee the safety of the population in the host country. Functional health literacy is an individual’s ability to read information and instructions about health and to function effectively as a patient in the health system, and comprehensive health literacy is an individual’s competence in accessing, understanding, appraising and applying health information. Little is known about refugees’ health literacy and their experiences of the health examination for asylum seekers. The purposes of the study were to investigate refugees’ experiences of communication during their health examination for asylum seekers and the usefulness of that examination, and whether health literacy is associated with those experiences.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was made among 360 adult refugees speaking Arabic, Dari, Somali or English. Health literacy was measured using the Swedish Functional Health Literacy Scale and the short European Health Literacy Questionnaire. Experiences of communication and the usefulness of the health examination were measured in several questions. Associations were sought using univariate and multivariate statistical models.

Results

In the health examination for asylum seekers, a poor quality of communication was experienced by 36 %, receiving little information about health care by 55 %, and receiving little new knowledge by 41 % and/or help by 26 %. Having inadequate as compared to sufficient comprehensive health literacy was associated with the experience of a poorer quality of communication (OR: 9.64, CI 95 %: 3.25–28.58) and the experience of receiving little valuable health care information (OR: 6.54, CI 95 %: 2.45–17.47). Furthermore, having inadequate as compared to sufficient comprehensive health literacy was associated with the experience of not receiving new knowledge (OR: 7.94, CI 95 %: 3.00–21.06) or receiving help with health problems (OR: 8.07, 95 % CI: 2.50–26.07. Functional healthy literacy was not associated with experiences of HEA.

Conclusion

Refugees’ experiences indicate that a low level of comprehensive health literacy can act as a barrier to fulfilling the purposes of the health examination for asylum seekers. Comprehensive health literacy seems to be of greater importance in that context than functional health literacy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2513-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The impact of primary care on emergency department presentation and hospital admission with pneumonia: a case-control study of preschool-aged children

BACKGROUND

In children, community-acquired pneumonia is a frequent cause of emergency department (ED) presentation and hospital admission. Quality primary care may prevent some of these hospital visits.

AIMS

The aim of this study was to identify primary care factors associated with ED presentation and hospital admission of preschool-aged children with community-acquired pneumonia.

METHODS

A case-control study was conducted by enrolling three groups: children presenting to the ED with pneumonia and admitted (n = 326), or discharged home (n = 179), and well-neighbourhood controls (n = 351). Interviews with parents and primary care staff were conducted and health record review was performed. The association of primary care factors with ED presentation and hospital admission, controlling for available confounding factors, was determined using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Children were more likely to present to the ED with pneumonia if they did not have a usual general practitioner (GP) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.67-3.70), their GP worked ⩽ 20 h/week (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.10-3.13) or their GP practice lacked an immunisation recall system (OR = 5.44, 95% CI = 2.26-13.09). Lower parent ratings for continuity (OR=1.63, 95% CI = 1.01-2.62), communication (OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.29-3.14) and overall satisfaction (OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.34-3.47) increased the likelihood of ED presentation. Children were more likely to be admitted when antibiotics were prescribed in primary care (OR = 2.50, 95% CI = 1.43-4.55). Hospital admission was less likely if children did not have a usual GP (OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.11-0.40) or self-referred to the ED (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.26-0.89).

CONCLUSIONS

Accessible and continuous primary care is associated with a decreased likelihood of preschool-aged children with pneumonia presenting to the ED and an increased likelihood of hospital admission, implying more appropriate referral. Lower parental satisfaction is associated with an increased likelihood of ED presentation.

Evaluation and management of medically unexplained physical symptoms

BACKGROUND

Medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) and related syndromes are common in medical care and the general population, are associated with extensive morbidity, and have a large impact on functioning. Much of medical practice emphasizes specific pharmacological and surgical intervention for discrete disease states. Medical science, with its emphasis on identifying etiologically meaningful diseases comprised of homogeneous groups of patients, has split MUPS into a number of diagnostic entities or syndromes, each with its own hypothesized pathogenesis. However, research suggests these syndromes may be more similar than different, sharing extensive phenomenological overlap and similar risk factors, treatments, associated morbidities, and prognoses. Examples of syndromes consisting of MUPS include chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivities, somatoform disorders, and 'Gulf War Syndrome.'

REVIEW SUMMARY

This paper is a narrative review of the increasing body of evidence suggesting that MUPS and related syndromes are common, disabling, and costly. It emphasizes that MUPS occur along a continuum of symptom count, severity, and duration and may be divided into acute, subacute (or recurrent), and chronic types. Predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors influence the natural history of MUPS.

CONCLUSIONS

Effective symptom management involves collaborative doctor-patient approaches for identification of problems based on a combination of medical importance and patient readiness to initiate behavioral change, negotiated treatment goals and outcomes, gradual physical activation and exercise prescription. Additionally, efforts should be made to teach and support active rather than passive coping with the symptoms.

Consultation with the general practitioner triggered by advice from social network members

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether advice from a person's social network triggers contact with the general practitioner (GP).

DESIGN

Case-crossover design comparing the frequency of advice given to seek medical attention in the period before contact with a GP and the frequency in matching control time periods for the same individual.

SETTING

Twenty-one Danish GPs working in single-handed practices.

SUBJECTS

322 patients, aged between 18 and 91 years, were interviewed by telephone after an unscheduled visit to their GP; 148 were interviewed again 3-6 months later.

MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES

The odds of individuals consulting their GP after receiving advice from network members in the period before they contacted their GP compared with the odds of those consulting their GP in the control period(s).

RESULTS

Being advised by others to seek medical attention increased the likelihood of seeking primary health care approximately fivefold--single men received advice significantly less frequently (7%) than women (18%) and cohabiting men (32%).

CONCLUSION

Advice from other social network members to seek medical attention is a frequent and influential cue prompting individuals to contact their GP.

Defining quality of care

This paper defines quality of health care. We suggest that there are two principal dimensions of quality of care for individual patients; access and effectiveness. In essence, do users get the care they need, and is the care effective when they get it? Within effectiveness, we define two key components--effectiveness of clinical care and effectiveness of inter-personal care. These elements are discussed in terms of the structure of the health care system, processes of care, and outcomes resulting from care. The framework relates quality of care to individual patients and we suggest that quality of care is a concept that is at its most meaningful when applied to the individual user of health care. However, care for individuals must placed in the context of providing health care for populations which introduces additional notions of equity and efficiency. We show how this framework can be of practical value by applying the concepts to a set of quality indicators contained within the UK National Performance Assessment Framework and to a set of widely used indicators in the US (HEDIS). In so doing we emphasise the differences between US and UK measures of quality. Using a conceptual framework to describe the totality of quality of care shows which aspects of care any set of quality indicators actually includes and measures and, and which are not included.

What do general practitioners and their patients want from general practice and are they receiving it? A framework

This article outlines a framework for answering four questions of national concern in Australia: what do patients want from general practice? What do GPs want from general practice? What do patients get from general practice? What do GPs get from general practice? These questions are posed with respect to four unique attributes of general practice care: first contact care, longitudinality, coordination and comprehensiveness. The nature of the doctor-patient relationship is also examined because, like the other attributes, it has been reported in the literature to be important to patients and GPs. The framework provides a basis for the empirical study of GP and patient perceptions of general practice care.

Social problems as factors affecting medical consultation: a comparison between general practice attenders and community probands with emotional distress

Comparison between general practice attenders and community subjects with emotional distress (as measured by GHQ-12) showed that women from a general practice sample reported more social problems than those from the community. In both men and women, problems with their spouse or partner were far more likely among general practice attenders than among community probands. Furthermore, women who consulted the general practitioners could count less often on the availability of friend confidants and had more well-defined physical disorder than their community counterparts. Results from a logistic regression analysis showed that in women (but not in men) problems in the relationship with spouse or partner increased the probability of being a general practice attender more than twofold. Physical health status did not exert a significant effect either in men or in women.