Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study
OBJECTIVES: This paper explores patient experiences and identifies barriers and opportunities for improving access to healthcare for patients from the Canadian north who travel to receive medical care in a Southern province. DESIGN: A mixed-methods, cross-sectional study involved one-on-one intervie...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6924833 2023-05-15T17:46:44+02:00 Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study Kerber, Kate Kolahdooz, Fariba Otway, Meeka Laboucan, Melinda Jang, Se Lim Lawrence, Sue Aronyk, Suzanne Quinn, Matthew Irlbacher-Fox, Stephanie Milligan, Crystal Broadhead, Sabrina DeLancey, Debbie Corriveau, Andre Sharma, Sangita 2019-12-04 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6924833/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31806609 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030885 en eng BMJ Publishing Group http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6924833/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31806609 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030885 © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. CC-BY-NC Public Health Text 2019 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030885 2020-01-05T01:39:15Z OBJECTIVES: This paper explores patient experiences and identifies barriers and opportunities for improving access to healthcare for patients from the Canadian north who travel to receive medical care in a Southern province. DESIGN: A mixed-methods, cross-sectional study involved one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. PARTICIPANTS: 52 one-on-one interviews with Northwest Territories (NWT) patients and patient escorts and two focus group discussions (n=10). Fourteen key informant interviews were conducted with health workers, programme managers and staff of community organisations providing services for out-of-province patients. A Community Advisory Board guided the development of the questionnaires and interpretation of results. RESULTS: Respondents were satisfied with the care received overall, but described unnecessary burdens and bureaucratic challenges throughout the travel process. Themes relating to access to healthcare included: plans and logistics for travel; level of communication between services; clarity around jurisdiction and responsibility for care; indirect costs of travel and direct costs of uninsured services; and having a patient escort or advocate available to assist with appointments and navigate the system. Three themes related to healthcare experiences included: cultural awareness, respect and caring, and medical translation. Respondents provided suggestions to improve access to care. CONCLUSIONS: Patients from NWT need more information and support before and during travel. Ensuring that medical travellers and escorts are prepared before departing, that healthcare providers engage in culturally appropriate communication and connecting travellers to support services on arrival have the potential to improve medical travel experiences. Text Northwest Territories PubMed Central (PMC) Northwest Territories BMJ Open 9 12 e030885 |
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topic |
Public Health |
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Public Health Kerber, Kate Kolahdooz, Fariba Otway, Meeka Laboucan, Melinda Jang, Se Lim Lawrence, Sue Aronyk, Suzanne Quinn, Matthew Irlbacher-Fox, Stephanie Milligan, Crystal Broadhead, Sabrina DeLancey, Debbie Corriveau, Andre Sharma, Sangita Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
topic_facet |
Public Health |
description |
OBJECTIVES: This paper explores patient experiences and identifies barriers and opportunities for improving access to healthcare for patients from the Canadian north who travel to receive medical care in a Southern province. DESIGN: A mixed-methods, cross-sectional study involved one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. PARTICIPANTS: 52 one-on-one interviews with Northwest Territories (NWT) patients and patient escorts and two focus group discussions (n=10). Fourteen key informant interviews were conducted with health workers, programme managers and staff of community organisations providing services for out-of-province patients. A Community Advisory Board guided the development of the questionnaires and interpretation of results. RESULTS: Respondents were satisfied with the care received overall, but described unnecessary burdens and bureaucratic challenges throughout the travel process. Themes relating to access to healthcare included: plans and logistics for travel; level of communication between services; clarity around jurisdiction and responsibility for care; indirect costs of travel and direct costs of uninsured services; and having a patient escort or advocate available to assist with appointments and navigate the system. Three themes related to healthcare experiences included: cultural awareness, respect and caring, and medical translation. Respondents provided suggestions to improve access to care. CONCLUSIONS: Patients from NWT need more information and support before and during travel. Ensuring that medical travellers and escorts are prepared before departing, that healthcare providers engage in culturally appropriate communication and connecting travellers to support services on arrival have the potential to improve medical travel experiences. |
format |
Text |
author |
Kerber, Kate Kolahdooz, Fariba Otway, Meeka Laboucan, Melinda Jang, Se Lim Lawrence, Sue Aronyk, Suzanne Quinn, Matthew Irlbacher-Fox, Stephanie Milligan, Crystal Broadhead, Sabrina DeLancey, Debbie Corriveau, Andre Sharma, Sangita |
author_facet |
Kerber, Kate Kolahdooz, Fariba Otway, Meeka Laboucan, Melinda Jang, Se Lim Lawrence, Sue Aronyk, Suzanne Quinn, Matthew Irlbacher-Fox, Stephanie Milligan, Crystal Broadhead, Sabrina DeLancey, Debbie Corriveau, Andre Sharma, Sangita |
author_sort |
Kerber, Kate |
title |
Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
title_short |
Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
title_full |
Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
title_fullStr |
Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from Canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
title_sort |
opportunities for improving patient experiences among medical travellers from canada’s far north: a mixed-methods study |
publisher |
BMJ Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6924833/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31806609 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030885 |
geographic |
Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6924833/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31806609 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030885 |
op_rights |
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030885 |
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BMJ Open |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
e030885 |
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