Young adults’ needs when seeking first-line healthcare: A grounded theory design

BACKGROUND: Healthcare outpatient visits have increased in recent years, and young adults are often given as an explanatory factor for many avoidable visits. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore how young adults perceive seeking first-line healthcare. DESIGN AND SETTING: The study utilized a grounded theory design with data collection at primary healthcare centres and emergency departments in southeast Sweden. METHOD: Data were collected during individual interviews and patient observations with subsequent interviews during the years 2017–2018. The analysis was performed using grounded theory. RESULTS: The main concern when young adults are seeking healthcare is that their worries are taken seriously. It is a four-part process: becoming aware of, verifying, communicating, and receiving an opinion about one’s symptoms. The process includes external factors, clarity of symptoms, behavioural approaches, healthcare know-how, enabling self-management, and prior healthcare experience(s). When communicating symptoms, the clearer the symptoms, the less there needs to be communicated. When symptoms are unclear, the importance of different behavioural approaches and healthcare know-how increases. When receiving a medical opinion about symptoms, young adults want to learn how to self-manage their symptoms. Depending on previous healthcare experience, the healthcare visit can either harm or help the patient in their healthcare-seeking process. CONCLUSION: This study reflects several insights in the healthcare-seeking process from a young adult perspective. Based on the results, we suggest that healthcare providers focus on the final step in the healthcare-seeking process when giving their medical opinion about symptoms. Having extra minutes to give support for future self-care regardless of diagnosis could increase positive healthcare experiences and increase future self-care among young adults.