week 5 - accessing healthcare services Flashcards
what are the two predominant ways in which majority of AUS access healthcare?
- hospitals 40.4%
- primary health care - 38.2%
In terms of demographic - who accesses healthcare systems the most?
- Young children and older people access healthcare systems the most
- Young ppl more prone to accidents
- Older group access more due to health-related issues with old age
- Women more use HCS than men
- Mostly due pregnant/childbirth
- SES X GEOGRAPHY
- When low SES urban areas use more HCS -> reflects poor status
- When low SES rural/remote use LESS HCS
- Due to lack accessibility
Why is primary healthcare so important?
- Gateway to access more help
- I.e. unlikely to be admitted to hospital withotu a general referral from GP
- What happens in primary healthcare affects/matters with overall healthcare
what is another way that an increasing number of australians is accessig health care?
the internet.
do GPs respond in the same way towards clinents accessing the internet to seek medical advice? if not, what ways do they respond?
- Some against and emphasise their over expertise
- May actually recommend the internet to patients - i.e. health Australia etc,,
- Help users to obtain and analyse information
what are lay referral networks?
informal networks on how people make sense of their medical condition - includes family, friends, colleagues
How is lay referral networks important/affect health care?
- Informal networks through family/friends/colleges where one asks these people about the condition they have identified and getting tips from them
- Individual gets confirmation about the symptoms they are worried about
- Lay referral more stronger influence among minority groups (Low SES)
Out of all the users of complimentary and alternative medicine, who is more likely to use it?
- Women
- Younger population
- More highly educated
- High income housewholds
- Private health insured
Do patients usually report their use of CAM to medical practitioners? Why and or why not?
- 77% of patients do not report their use of CAM
- Usually because the practitioner does not ask
- Concerns of negative resposnses
- Belief that practitioner do not need to know about their use of CAM
What does it mean by treatment delay?
- Time elapses between when a person first notices a symptom and when medical care is commenced
what are the three types of treatment delays?
- Appraisal delay
- Illness delay - Moment between recognising your ill and deciding to seek medical treatment
- Utilisation delay - time taken between recognising the symptoms/illness and actually doing something about it
In terms of appraisal delay, in what situations are clients more likely to seek help and more likely to delay? what age group is more liley to seek help in this stage?
- most of the delay occurs at this stage
- more likely to seek help if pain/blood presnet
- more likely to delay if someone reads about the symptoms online
- older age groups more likely to seek help quicker
In terms of illness delay, when are clinents more likley to delay their recognition of illness?
- more likely to delay detection of illness if
1. re-occurring symptom and previously it wasn’t a problem
2. low SSES
3. fear about the result of the symptoms
In terms of utilisation delay, when are clinents more likely to delay seek medical help?
- more likely to delay if
1. worried about the cost
2. not under any pain
3. unsure about whether it can be cured or not
Why does a patient who is hospitalised experience their health symptom differently to a patient who is not hospitalised?
- different environment
- overwhelming when being in a hospital bed and surrounded by experts
- loss of privacy
- not much to do in hospitals -> therefore clients more likely to focus on their symptoms/illness more -> heightened anxiety and fear
