TY - JOUR
T1 - Adolescents' Views on Barriers to Health Care
T2 - A Pilot Study
AU - Lim, Sylvia W.
AU - Chhabra, Rosy
AU - Rosen, Ayelet
AU - Racine, Andrew D.
AU - Alderman, Elizabeth M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Even adolescents who had health insurance, were registered for care in a system, and already had primary providers still reported barriers to accessing needed health services. Therefore, it is not enough that adolescents should have identifiable providers and be in the health care system, but it is also important to understand how the system could be accessible. An additional important finding is that many adolescents in this study were uncomfortable discussing mental health issues with their providers, a matter that raises concerns and should be looked at further in future studies. If changes are going to be implemented to better serve the adolescent population, it is important to listen to the views of adolescents and seek their opinions on what they consider to be barriers to accessing health services and what they consider to be an ideal health center. We would like to thank Maya Ilowite (medical student from Albert Einstein College of Medicine) for her help with recruiting study participants. We are also grateful to Dr. Katherine Lobach and Dr. Celia Alfalla for their advice on the development of the project and the writing of the manuscript. The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The author(s) declared the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the American Academy of Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) grant.
PY - 2012/4
Y1 - 2012/4
N2 - Objectives: To determine from adolescents using health care their: 1) perceptions of barriers to obtaining health services, 2) views on how to overcome the barriers and 3) views on how to create an adolescent-friendly primary care practice. Design: Six focus group interviews. Methods: Adolescents 11-21 years old from three health centers in the Bronx were recruited. Main Outcome Measures: 1) barriers to accessing health care such as insurance, language barriers, transportation, making an appointment; 2) identifying barriers related to issues of consent and confidentiality; 3) exploring barriers to accessing mental health and related issues; and 4) their visions of an adolescent-friendly office. Results: Thirty-one adolescents, aged 11-21 years old, participated. The majority were Hispanic and 52% were female. Fifty percent of adolescents had a routine visit within the past month. Most adolescents reported experiencing barriers to making an appointment. Additionally, they complained about long waiting times to be seen by providers on the day of their scheduled appointment. Another key barrier was related to knowledge and perceptions about consent and confidentiality. Further, in regard to mental health, many adolescents from focus groups reported that they felt that their primary providers had little interest in this topic and limited knowledge about it. Most of the adolescents reported no barriers with insurance, language or transportation. Their visions of an adolescent-friendly office would include a separate adolescent waiting area equipped with entertainment units. Conclusion: In this study of adolescents who already have primary care providers and are seemingly well-connected to the health care system, there remained significant reported barriers to accessing necessary health services.
AB - Objectives: To determine from adolescents using health care their: 1) perceptions of barriers to obtaining health services, 2) views on how to overcome the barriers and 3) views on how to create an adolescent-friendly primary care practice. Design: Six focus group interviews. Methods: Adolescents 11-21 years old from three health centers in the Bronx were recruited. Main Outcome Measures: 1) barriers to accessing health care such as insurance, language barriers, transportation, making an appointment; 2) identifying barriers related to issues of consent and confidentiality; 3) exploring barriers to accessing mental health and related issues; and 4) their visions of an adolescent-friendly office. Results: Thirty-one adolescents, aged 11-21 years old, participated. The majority were Hispanic and 52% were female. Fifty percent of adolescents had a routine visit within the past month. Most adolescents reported experiencing barriers to making an appointment. Additionally, they complained about long waiting times to be seen by providers on the day of their scheduled appointment. Another key barrier was related to knowledge and perceptions about consent and confidentiality. Further, in regard to mental health, many adolescents from focus groups reported that they felt that their primary providers had little interest in this topic and limited knowledge about it. Most of the adolescents reported no barriers with insurance, language or transportation. Their visions of an adolescent-friendly office would include a separate adolescent waiting area equipped with entertainment units. Conclusion: In this study of adolescents who already have primary care providers and are seemingly well-connected to the health care system, there remained significant reported barriers to accessing necessary health services.
KW - access to health care
KW - adolescents
KW - health barriers
KW - knowledge and perceptions of confidential care
KW - mental health
KW - preventive care topics
KW - teen-friendly practice
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U2 - 10.1177/2150131911422533
DO - 10.1177/2150131911422533
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84893952613
SN - 2150-1319
VL - 3
SP - 99
EP - 103
JO - Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
JF - Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
IS - 2
ER -
