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Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia

Background: Australia’s healthcare system is complex and fragmented which can create challenges in healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas. Aboriginal people experience inequalities in healthcare treatment and outcomes. This study aimed to investigate barriers and enablers to accessing he...

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Autores principales: Nolan-Isles, Davida, Macniven, Rona, Hunter, Kate, Gwynn, Josephine, Lincoln, Michelle, Moir, Rachael, Dimitropoulos, Yvonne, Taylor, Donna, Agius, Tim, Finlayson, Heather, Martin, Robyn, Ward, Katrina, Tobin, Susannah, Gwynne, Kylie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7999419/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33804104
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063014
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author Nolan-Isles, Davida
Macniven, Rona
Hunter, Kate
Gwynn, Josephine
Lincoln, Michelle
Moir, Rachael
Dimitropoulos, Yvonne
Taylor, Donna
Agius, Tim
Finlayson, Heather
Martin, Robyn
Ward, Katrina
Tobin, Susannah
Gwynne, Kylie
author_facet Nolan-Isles, Davida
Macniven, Rona
Hunter, Kate
Gwynn, Josephine
Lincoln, Michelle
Moir, Rachael
Dimitropoulos, Yvonne
Taylor, Donna
Agius, Tim
Finlayson, Heather
Martin, Robyn
Ward, Katrina
Tobin, Susannah
Gwynne, Kylie
author_sort Nolan-Isles, Davida
collection PubMed
description Background: Australia’s healthcare system is complex and fragmented which can create challenges in healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas. Aboriginal people experience inequalities in healthcare treatment and outcomes. This study aimed to investigate barriers and enablers to accessing healthcare services for Aboriginal people living in regional and remote Australia. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare delivery staff and stakeholders recruited through snowball sampling. Three communities were selected for their high proportion of Aboriginal people and diverse regional and remote locations. Thematic analysis identified barriers and enablers. Results: Thirty-one interviews were conducted in the three communities (n = 5 coastal, n = 13 remote, and n = 13 border) and six themes identified: (1) Improved coordination of healthcare services; (2) Better communication between services and patients; (3) Trust in services and cultural safety; (4) Importance of prioritizing health services by Aboriginal people; (5) Importance of reliable, affordable and sustainable services; (6) Distance and transport availability. These themes were often present as both barriers and enablers to healthcare access for Aboriginal people. They were also present across the healthcare system and within all three communities. Conclusions: This study describes a pathway to better healthcare outcomes for Aboriginal Australians by providing insights into ways to improve access.
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spelling pubmed-79994192021-03-28 Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia Nolan-Isles, Davida Macniven, Rona Hunter, Kate Gwynn, Josephine Lincoln, Michelle Moir, Rachael Dimitropoulos, Yvonne Taylor, Donna Agius, Tim Finlayson, Heather Martin, Robyn Ward, Katrina Tobin, Susannah Gwynne, Kylie Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Australia’s healthcare system is complex and fragmented which can create challenges in healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas. Aboriginal people experience inequalities in healthcare treatment and outcomes. This study aimed to investigate barriers and enablers to accessing healthcare services for Aboriginal people living in regional and remote Australia. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare delivery staff and stakeholders recruited through snowball sampling. Three communities were selected for their high proportion of Aboriginal people and diverse regional and remote locations. Thematic analysis identified barriers and enablers. Results: Thirty-one interviews were conducted in the three communities (n = 5 coastal, n = 13 remote, and n = 13 border) and six themes identified: (1) Improved coordination of healthcare services; (2) Better communication between services and patients; (3) Trust in services and cultural safety; (4) Importance of prioritizing health services by Aboriginal people; (5) Importance of reliable, affordable and sustainable services; (6) Distance and transport availability. These themes were often present as both barriers and enablers to healthcare access for Aboriginal people. They were also present across the healthcare system and within all three communities. Conclusions: This study describes a pathway to better healthcare outcomes for Aboriginal Australians by providing insights into ways to improve access. MDPI 2021-03-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7999419/ /pubmed/33804104 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063014 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nolan-Isles, Davida
Macniven, Rona
Hunter, Kate
Gwynn, Josephine
Lincoln, Michelle
Moir, Rachael
Dimitropoulos, Yvonne
Taylor, Donna
Agius, Tim
Finlayson, Heather
Martin, Robyn
Ward, Katrina
Tobin, Susannah
Gwynne, Kylie
Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia
title Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia
title_full Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia
title_fullStr Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia
title_full_unstemmed Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia
title_short Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia
title_sort enablers and barriers to accessing healthcare services for aboriginal people in new south wales, australia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7999419/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33804104
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063014
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