Improving the health of Indian teenagers--a demonstration program in rural New Mexico

The health status of Indian teenagers in the United States is below that of the general population. The usual barriers to the use of health care services that young people, including young Indians, encounter are compounded in rural areas by distance, isolation, and lack of appropriate services. To overcome these barriers in rural New Mexico, a public health demonstration project (a) established a single location where adolescents can receive multiple, integrated health care services free of charge; (b) set up the initial program of services at a rural school; (c) established links with existing agencies; and (d) incorporated community action toward creating change. The project began as a joint effort of three communities, the University of New Mexico (UNM), and the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Service (IHS) of the Public Health Service; a secondary level public school soon became a participant. The project is being replicated in two other communities that have formed separate partnerships with UNM and the area IHS; also the New Mexico Health and Environment Department has joined the effort in one community. Preliminary data suggest that the services are being used by a majority of the target population, with the proportions of boys and girls about equal.     

Project ECHO: linking university specialists with rural and prison-based clinicians to improve care for people with chronic hepatitis C in New Mexico

Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO) is a telemedicine and distance-learning program designed to improve access to quality health care for New Mexicans with hepatitis C. Project ECHO links health-care providers from rural clinics, the Indian Health Service, and prisons with specialists at the University of New Mexico. At weekly clinics, partners present and discuss patients with hepatitis C with specialists. Partners can receive continuing education credits for participating. Since June 2003, 173 hepatitis C clinics have been conducted with 1,843 case presentations. Partners have received 390 hours of training and 2,997 hours of continuing education credits. And in 2006, the State Legislature approved $1.5 million in annual funding for the project. Project ECHO has increased access to state-of-the art hepatitis C virus care for patients living in rural areas or prisons. Because of its success with hepatitis C, this project is being expanded to other chronic medical conditions.     

Health Differences Among Lumbee Indians Using Public and Private Sources of Care

CONTEXT: Of 2.4 million American Indians, approximately 60% are eligible to receive Indian Health Service (IHS) benefits, leaving many to seek care elsewhere. It is unknown if their quality of care, health behaviors, and health status vary by source of care, as demonstrated for other populations. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether preventive services, health behaviors, and number of health conditions vary as a function of having non-IHS public versus private physicians as sources of usual care. METHODS: 1,177 Lumbee Indians, who are ineligible to receive IHS services, completed a telephone interview that included information on receipt of preventive measures, tobacco use, physical activity, breast self-examination, and medical conditions. Frequencies, chi-squares, t tests, odds ratios, and confidence intervals were used to compare variables by source of care. FINDINGS: 939 respondents (80%) had a private and 210 (18%) a public health clinic physician as their usual source of care; 28 (2%) reported having neither. Logistic regression analyses, restricted to the 1,149 participants who reported either a private or public source of care, revealed no differences in receipt of preventive services or health status by usual source of care. Smokeless tobacco use was less common among persons using private than public providers. CONCLUSIONS: Lumbees whose usual source of care was a public clinic physician did not differ in receipt of preventive services or in health status compared to their counterparts who received care from a private physician. More targeted research into health similarities and differences arising from access to public and private sources of care is warranted.     

Health care services for HIV-positive substance abusers in a rural setting: an innovative program

Agencies that deliver health care services to HIV-positive substance abusers living in rural areas of the United States face particular treatment challenges and barriers to care. Rural consumers of HIV/AIDS health care-related services identified long travel distances to medical facilities, lack of transportation, lack of availability of HIV-specific medical personnel, a shortage of mental health and substance abuse services, community stigma, and financial problems as leading barriers to access to care. This article discusses barriers to care for rural HIV-positive substance abusers, and challenges for rural health care providers. In addition, it presents a case study of Health Services Center, a model program that has devised innovative practices in the delivery of health care services to HIV-positive substance abusers in rural northeastern Alabama.     

我国基层卫生机构服务功能分析

基层卫生机构功能决定着基本卫生服务的供给。本文利用国家第四次卫生服务总调查以及专题调查资料,对城乡基层卫生机构服务开展情况进行了分析。根据经济社会发展水平、基层卫生机构服务能力和城乡居民需要解决的主要健康问题,本研究将基本卫生服务项目按照优先程度分为三个等级。约三分之一的城乡基层卫生机构尚不能提供最应优先开展的基本卫生服务;农村基层卫生机构服务能力与城市基层卫生机构相比更为薄弱,特别是村级卫生机构基本卫生服务能力需要加强;乡镇卫生院和社区卫生服务中心开展最优先项目的比例均不足70%;村卫生室和社区服务站开展最优先项目比例分别为62%和77%。影响基层卫生机构功能的主要因素为人员数量不足、人员能力不够、缺乏运转资金等。需要以基层卫生机构功能建设为核心,创新我国基本医疗卫生保健体系。     

Health Care Services for HIV-Positive Substance Abusers in a Rural Setting: An Innovative Program

ABSTRACT

Agencies that deliver health care services to HIV-positive substance abusers living in rural areas of the United States face particular treatment challenges and barriers to care. Rural consumers of HIV/AIDS health care–related services identified long travel distances to medical facilities, lack of transportation, lack of availability of HIV-specific medical personnel, a shortage of mental health and substance abuse services, community stigma, and financial problems as leading barriers to access to care. This article discusses barriers to care for rural HIV-positive substance abusers, and challenges for rural health care providers. In addition, it presents a case study of Health Services Center, a model program that has devised innovative practices in the delivery of health care services to HIV-positive substance abusers in rural northeastern Alabama.     

Availability of School Health Services for Young Children

ABSTRACT: A survey to assess availability of school health services was distributed to 221 directors of Schools of the 21st Century, an educational model that provides integrated services to children and families. Of this distribution, 126 (57%) surveys were returned; 88% of respondents reported they provided some type of school health services for their students; 75% of schools had access to school nursing services, yet only 33% had a school nurse on-site; 50% had less than daily access to a school nurse. Despite a high reported prevalence of physical and mental health problems, other services such as acute care, nutrition counseling, dental screenings, or mental health services were provided less frequently. Barriers perceived as problematic for schools providing health services included inadequate funding, limited parental awareness, and opposition by school or community members. Respondents believed transportation, limited financial resources, and inadequate health insurance were barriers to care for children and families. Among this sample of schools, school health services varied in availability and comprehensiveness. Educators, health providers, and parents must work together to provide improved school health services for children. (J Sch Health. 1997;67(8):327–332)     

Environmental assessment of the Indian health service

The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was responsible for providing federal health services to 1.51 million American Indian and Alaska Natives in 2000. Several opportunities related to health care exist for the IHS: potential public and private collaborations, continuation of the Clinton Administration's legacy of meaningful tribal consultation, and increasing the numbers of American Indian physicians, nurses, and other health related professionals. Modifications in federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid pose a serious threat to the IHS because the IHS relies on these programs to offset the overall lack of funding. This article provides a framework for identifying the ways in which the external environment affects and determines the IHS' strategic responses to ensure competitiveness within the U.S. health care market. Value chain analysis will be used to evaluate the competitive advantages and disadvantages of the current IHS internal environment.     

Clinical annotation of tobacco use in patient charts at Indian Health Service clinics and hospitals

Few clinicians would doubt the importance of obtaining smoking histories from their patients. Nevertheless a clinicians' practices of documenting tobacco use in medical records varies substantially among individual providers and between different health care systems. To investigate the chart documentation of patient smoking among Indian Health Service clinicians, we reviewed 545 randomly selected patient records from 22 different Indian Health Service affiliated clinics. We focused on differences in charting of tobacco use by type of clinic and by geographic area within the Indian Health Service. Documentation varied by area, ranging from no documentation in the Albuquerque, Navajo, and Phoenix areas to 51% in the Oklahoma area. We conclude that clinicians practices of documentation of tobacco use vary widely and recommend that this practice be more widely encouraged at all affiliated Indian Health Service clinics.The author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Nathaniel Cobb, IHS Hdqtrs West Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Dr. Eva Smith, Alcohol and Substance Program Branch IHS Hdqtrs West, and Ms. Roberta Paisano, IHS Hdqtrs West Cancer Prevention and Control Program for their assistance in helping to format the chart audit form and for their editing assistance. Also, the author would like to thank the IHS Area Tobacco Control Coordinators for their assistance in scheduling the actual chart audits and in many instances helping to collect the data.     

Utilization of VA and Medicare services by Medicare-eligible veterans: the impact of additional access points in a rural setting

The Veterans Health Administration (VA) has recently established community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) to improve access to primary care. In our study we sought to understand the relationship between the degree to which older, Medicare-eligible veterans use CBOCs and their utilization of health services through both the VA and Medicare. We wanted to limit our analysis to a largely rural setting in which patients have greater healthcare needs and where we expected to find that the availability of CBOCs significantly improved access to VA healthcare. Therefore, we identified 47,209 patients who lived in the largely rural states of northern New England and were enrolied in the VA in 1997, 1998, and 1999. We used a merged VA/Medicare dataset to determine utilization in the VA and the private sector and to categorize patients into three segments: those who used only CBOCs for VA primary care, those who used only VA medical centers for VA primary care, and those who used both. For all three groups, we found that VA patients obtained an increasing amount of their care in the private sector, which was funded by Medicare. VA patients who obtained all of their VA primary care services through CBOCs relied on the private sector for most of their specialty and inpatient care needs. Our findings suggest that, in this rural New England setting, improved access to VA care through CBOCs appears to provide complementary, not substitutive, services. Analyses of the efficiency of adding access points to healthcare systems should be conducted, with particular emphasis on examining the possibilities of encroachment, worsened coordination of care, and potential health services overuse.     

Specialized Family Planning Clinics in the United States: Why Women Choose Them and Their Role in Meeting Women's Health Care Needs

BackgroundPublicly funded family planning clinics provide contraceptive care to millions of poor and low-income women every year. To inform the design of services that will best meet the contraceptive and reproductive health needs of women, we conducted a targeted survey of family planning clinic clients, asking women about services received in the past year and about their reasons for visiting a specialized family planning clinic.MethodsWe surveyed 2,094 women receiving services from 22 family planning clinics in 13 states; all sites included in the survey were clinics that specialize in contraceptive and reproductive health services and were located in communities with comprehensive primary care providers.ResultsSix in 10 (59%) respondents had made a health care visit to another provider in the past year, but chose the family planning clinic for contraceptive care. Four in 10 (41%) respondents relied on the family planning clinic as their only recent source for health care. The four most common reasons for choosing a specialized family planning clinic, reported by at least 80% of respondents, were respectful staff, confidential care, free or low-cost services, and staff who are knowledgeable about women's health.ConclusionsSpecialized family planning clinics play an important role as part of the health care safety net in the United States. Collaborations between such clinics and comprehensive primary care providers, such as federally qualified health centers, may be one model for ensuring women on-going access to the full range of care they need.     

A Congolese community-based health program for survivors of sexual violence

ABSTRACT: Many survivors of gender based violence (GBV) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) report barriers to access health services including, distance, cost, lack of trained providers and fear of stigma. In 2004, Foundation RamaLevina (FORAL), a Congolese health and social non-governmental organization, started a mobile health program for vulnerable women and men to address the barriers to access identified by GBV survivors and their families in rural South Kivu province, Eastern DRC. FORAL conducted a case study of the implementation of this program between July 2010-June 2011 in 6 rural villages. The case study engaged FORAL staff, partner health care providers, community leaders and survivors in developing and implementing a revised strategy with the goal of improving and sustaining health services. The case study focused on: (1) Expansion of mobile clinic services and visit schedule; (2) Clinical monitoring and evaluation system; and (3) Recognition, documentation and brief psychosocial support for symptoms suggestive of anxiety, depression and PTSD. During this period, FORAL treated 772 women of which 85% reported being survivors of sexual violence. Almost half of the women (45%) reported never receiving health services after the last sexual assault. The majority of survivors reported symptoms consistent with STI. Male partner adherence to STI treatment was low (41%). The case study demonstrated areas of strengths in FORAL's program, including improved access to health care by survivors and their male partner, enhanced quality of health education and facilitated regular monitoring, follow-up care and referrals. In addition, three critical areas were identified by FORAL that needed further development: provision of health services to young, unmarried women in a way that reduces possibility of future stigma, engaging male partners in health education and clinical care and strengthening linkages for referral of survivors and their partners to psychosocial support and mental health services. FORAL's model of offering health education to all community members, partnering with local providers to leverage resources and their principal of avoiding labeling the clinic as one for survivors will help women and their families in the DRC and other conflict settings to comfortably and safely access needed health care services.     

Veterans Health Administration and Medicare Outpatient Health Care Utilization by Older Rural and Urban New England Veterans

CONTEXT: Older veterans often use both the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Medicare to obtain health care services. PURPOSE: The authors sought to compare outpatient medical service utilization of Medicare-enrolled rural veterans with their urban counterparts in New England. METHODS: The authors combined VHA and Medicare databases and identified veterans who were age 65 and older and enrolled in Medicare fee-for-service plans, and they obtained records of all their VHA services in New England between 1997 and 1999. The authors used ZIP codes to designate rural or urban residence and categorized outpatient utilization into primary care, individual mental health care, non-mental health specialty care, or emergency room care. FINDINGS: Compared with their urban counterparts, veterans living in rural settings used significantly fewer VHA and Medicare-funded primary care, specialist care, and mental health care visits in all 3 years examined (P<.001 for all). Compared with urban veterans, veterans living in rural settings used fewer VHA emergency department services in 1998 and 1999 but more Medicare-funded emergency department visits in 1997. The authors found some evidence of substitution of Medicare for VHA emergency visits in rural veterans, but no other evidence of like-service substitution. Rural veterans were more reliant on Medicare for primary care and on VHA services for specialty and mental health care. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that rural access to federally funded health care is restricted relative to urban access. Older veterans may choose different systems of care for different health care services. With poor access to primary care, rural veterans may substitute emergency room visits for routine care.     

Dental Services for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in US Community/Migrant Health Centers

CONTEXT: Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are recognized as a medically underserved population, yet little information on need, access, and services is available-particularly with regard to oral health care. PURPOSE: This study describes the facilities, services, staffing, and patient characteristics of US dental clinics serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and identifies trends and issues that may impede or improve dental care access and service. METHODS: National databases were used to identify community and migrant health centers providing oral health care to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Mailed surveys collected information on clinic history, operational details, services provided, patient demographics, employment and resource needs, and perceived barriers to care. FINDINGS: Among the 81 respondents (response rate 41%), hours of operation varied from 1 evening a week to more than 40 hours a week; 52% had no evening hours. Almost all the clinics offered preventive, diagnostic, and basic restorative dental services, and roughly two thirds also offered complex restorative services. Patients most frequently sought emergency dental care (44%) followed by basic restorative services (32%) and preventive services (26%). The dentist position was the most difficult to fill, and new funding sources were cited as the most important resource need. Respondents perceived cost of services, lack of transportation, and limited clinic hours as primary barriers to care. CONCLUSIONS: While some barriers to care have been almost universally addressed (eg, language), there is evidence that some impediments remain and may present significant obstacles to a broad improvement in oral health care for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.     

The Focus They Deserve: Improving Women Veterans’ Health Care Access

PurposeVeterans Health Administration (VHA) initiatives aim to provide veterans timely access to quality health care. The focus of this analysis was provider and staff perspectives on women veterans' access in the context of national efforts to improve veterans’ access to care.MethodsWe completed 21 site visits at Veterans Health Administration medical facilities to evaluate the implementation of a national access initiative. Qualitative data collection included semistructured interviews (n = 127), focus groups (n = 81), and observations with local leadership, administrators, providers, and support staff across primary and specialty care services at each facility. Deductive and inductive content analysis was used to identify barriers, facilitators, and contextual factors affecting implementation of initiatives and women veterans’ access.ResultsParticipants identified barriers to women veterans' access and strategies used to improve access. Barriers included a limited availability of providers trained in women's health and gender-specific care services (e.g., women's specialty care), inefficient referral and coordination with community providers, and psychosocial factors (e.g., childcare). Participants also identified issues related to childcare and perceived harassment in medical facility settings as distinct access issues for women veterans. Strategies focused on increasing internal capacity to provide on-site women's comprehensive care and specialty services by streamlining provider training and credentialing, contracting providers, using telehealth, and improving access to community providers to fill gaps in women's services. Participants also highlighted efforts to improve gender-sensitive care delivery.ConclusionsAlthough some issues affect all veterans, problems with community care referrals may disproportionately affect women veterans’ access owing to a necessary reliance on community care for a range of gender-specific services.     

Perspectives on Health Care Delivery Systems for American Indian Families

The national effort to improve services to children with special health care needs presents unique challenges for the delivery of services to American Indian families This study took place in New Mexico American Indian families whose children have special needs and health care providers were interviewed Their responses about obstacles to health care for their children and suggestions for improving services were examined Generally, both groups identified similar obstacles, although important differences between groups were noted The findings point to the need for understanding cultural barriers and the unique concerns of low income families living in rural areas This has important implications for planning changes in the health care system for American Indian children with special needs.     

Rural Indian women's care-seeking behavior and choice of provider for gynecological symptoms

This study uses data from the India National Family and Health Survey-2 conducted in 1998-99 to investigate the level and correlates of care-seeking and choice of provider for gynecological symptoms among currently married women in rural India. Of the symptomatic women surveyed, 31 percent sought care, overwhelmingly from private providers (70 percent). Only 8 percent of women consulted frontline paramedical health workers. Care-seeking behavior and type of providers consulted varied significantly across different Indian states. Significant differentials in care-seeking by age, caste, religion, education, household wealth, and women's autonomy suggest the existence of multiple cultural, economic, and demand-side barriers to care-seeking. Although socially disadvantaged women were less likely than better-off women to consult private providers, the majority of even the poorest, uneducated, and lower-caste women consulted private providers. Geographical access to public health facilities had no significant association with choice of provider, whereas access to private providers had only a moderately significant association with that choice. The predominance of use of private services for self-perceived gynecological morbidity warrants the inclusion of private providers in the national reproductive health strategy to enhance its effectiveness.     

Considerations in establishing visiting consultant clinics in rural hospital communities

Establishing specialty clinics staffed by visiting medical consultants is one way that rural hospitals can increase local access to specialty care. This example of private sector-driven regionalization of health care services typically involves an agreement among urban specialists, rural hospitals, and local primary care physicians. The urban-based physicians provide limited on-site specialty services in the rural community for patients who are referred by local physicians or self-refer to the specialty clinics. The trend toward formalization of regional relationships across large geographic areas prompts both opportunity and need for careful consideration of visiting specialty clinic arrangements in rural hospital communities. This article delineates advantages and disadvantages associated with the development of Visiting Consulting Clinics (VCC) along with some ?ground rules? to consider when establishing this type of service.