Providing ambulatory healthcare for people aged 80 and over: Views and perspectives of physicians and dentists from a qualitative survey

BACKGROUND: People aged 80 and over frequently face complex chronic conditions and health limitations, including oral health problems, which are primarily addressed by ambulatory (i.e., outpatient) healthcare. This demographic development is expected to affect the provision of care. However, few studies have investigated physicians’ and dentists’ views across the various medical disciplines in non-institutional settings. This study investigated how healthcare providers perceive caring for very old people, and how they feel healthcare should be designed for this patient group. METHODS: A qualitative online survey comprising nine open-ended items was conducted among physicians and dentists practicing in the ambulatory healthcare sector in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Apart from child and adolescent healthcare, no medical specialties were excluded. The results were analysed using Kuckartz’ approach of structuring qualitative content analysis. A descriptive codebook was developed first. After coding all the material, recurring patterns between the topics were investigated and compared between two groups of participants, physicians and dentists. RESULTS: N = 77 cases were included in the analysis, from which n = 21 originated from the field of ambulatory general practice care and internal medicine, n = 19 from specialties (e.g., neurology, urology), and n = 37 from dentistry. Caring for patients aged 80 and over was perceived as challenging because of complex health conditions and treatments such as multimorbidity and polypharmacy, and patients’ cognitive and physical limitations. In characterizing good care in older age, both groups found individual care important, as well as empathetic interactions and good collaboration in networks of healthcare providers. Inadequate reimbursement and limited resources and time were the most important barriers to providing good care, while one of the most important facilitators was healthcare providers’ attitude and motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians’ and dentists’ conceptions of good healthcare are in line with the conceptualization of patient-centred care. However, the transfer in everyday care delivery is hampered by the current design of healthcare structures. Healthcare providers feel overstrained by the increasing demands placed on them. Adaptations for improvement should focus on building strong networks of cooperating health professions, especially including dental care, and local social support structures.