Physical activity participation among persons with disabilities: barriers and facilitators

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify various barriers and facilitators associated with participation in fitness and recreation programs/facilities among persons with disabilities. METHODS: Focus groups were conducted in ten regions across the United States in 2001 to 2002 with four types of participants: (1) consumers with disabilities, (2) architects, (3) fitness and recreation professionals, and (4) city planners and park district managers. Sessions were tape-recorded and content analyzed; focus group facilitators took notes of identified barriers and facilitators to access. RESULTS: Content analysis of tape recordings revealed 178 barriers and 130 facilitators. The following themes were identified: (1) barriers and facilitators related to the built and natural environment; (2) economic issues; (3) emotional and psychological barriers; (4) equipment barriers; (5) barriers related to the use and interpretation of guidelines, codes, regulations, and laws; (6) information-related barriers; (7) professional knowledge, education, and training issues; (8) perceptions and attitudes of persons who are not disabled, including professionals; (9) policies and procedures both at the facility and community level; and (10) availability of resources. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of participation in physical activity among people with disabilities is affected by a multifactorial set of barriers and facilitators that are unique to this population. Future research should utilize this information to develop intervention strategies that have a greater likelihood of success.     

Barriers to and facilitators of partner notification for chlamydia trachomatis among health care professionals

Background

Partner notification (PN) is an essential case-finding tool in the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Yet, data on the effectiveness and factors impacting implementation of PN in the Netherlands are lacking. With the aim of further exploring and improving the PN process, the current study assessed perceived barriers and facilitators among health care professionals in the STI clinical setting. In particular, we explored the management of PN in young heterosexual patients diagnosed with Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct).

Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews among 22 health care professionals (response rate 52%) from 5 of the 8 national STI clinics in the Netherlands. We carried out qualitative content analysis using a framework approach. All participants were nurses, aged mid 20’s to late 50’s, and all but one were female.

Results

All health care professionals felt comfortable discussing PN. Other perceived facilitators for PN included: time, one-on-one consultations, interviewing skills (i.e. Motivational Interviewing) and a proactive helping style. Important barriers were identified as: sub-optimal guidelines, inaccurate sexual history, a lack of feedback regarding the motivational strategies that were used, and the lack of feedback regarding overall PN effectiveness. The health care professionals placed an emphasis on the care and treatment of the individual index patient rather than on discussion of PN, or on motivating and helping patients to engage in PN.

Conclusions

Health care professionals identified several barriers that need to be overcome, and facilitators which need to be maintained. Future efforts should concentrate on introducing PN protocols, providing feedback on both the effectiveness of strategies used by health care professionals, and on the PN process as a whole, and educating health care professionals about Motivational Interviewing strategies. Moreover, the possible implementation of an Internet-based PN system should be explored.

     

Perceived barriers and facilitators of structural reimbursement for remote patient monitoring,an exploratory qualitative study

ObjectiveStructural reimbursement can be an important factor for large-scale implementing and upscaling of remote patient monitoring (RPM). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch Healthcare Authority expanded regulations, creating novel opportunities to reimburse RPM. Despite these regulations, barriers to the reimbursement of RPM remain. This study aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators of structural reimbursement of RPM in hospital care in the Netherlands and to propose actionable recommendations.MethodsThis is an exploratory qualitative study with relevant stakeholders in the Dutch purchasing market: the Dutch Healthcare Authority, health insurers, and healthcare providers. Semi-structured interviews were held between October and December of 2020. All interviews were conducted using a digital medium, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed.ResultsMultiple perceived barriers were mentioned: wrong pocket problems (i.e. the entity that bears the costs of implementation does not receive the benefits), no uniform quality and outcome indicators, lack of willingness to redesign care pathways by providers, and difficulties implementing cross-sector models. Perceived facilitators included interdisciplinary cooperation and transparency, the use of alternative payment models, increase in the total number of patients per RPM project, and the optional reimbursement scheme.ConclusionOur interviews found barriers and facilitators concerning structural reimbursement of RPM in hospital settings in the Netherlands. Our results emphasize that the successful integration of structural reimbursement requires: 1) understanding the improvement potential of RPM by creating business cases, 2) co-creation (redesigning care paths) from the outset of an RPM project, 3) and allocating financial risk by providers and insurers.Public Interest SummaryThe COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the strong potential of consultation and monitoring patients at a distance. Remote patient monitoring - the use of information technologies for monitoring patients at a distance - is seen as a potential solution to urgent challenges in the healthcare system. Nevertheless, embedding remote patient monitoring innovations into routine healthcare is often challenging, partly due to difficulties in reimbursing these initiatives. Barriers to reimbursing remote patient monitoring included organizational factors, no uniform quality and outcome indicators, and difficulties using different payment models. Perceived facilitators included an increase in the total number of patients per project, better interdisciplinary cooperation and transparency, and help from the Dutch Healthcare Authority. Introducing these insights into healthcare policy dialogues could support reimbursement of remote patient monitoring and stimulate the collaboration of healthcare stakeholders responsible for implementing and scaling up remote patient monitoring projects.     

Health care service decision influences: an exploratory investigation of search and nonsearch criteria for professionals and patients

Despite numerous studies examining buying behavior, research on types of evaluative criteria for vendor selection involving consumers and health care professionals (functioning as market "intermediaries") has been lacking. Building on previous conceptualizations reported in marketing and health care literature, the author examines the relative influence of search and nonsearch evaluative criteria in the decision making of both patients and hospital-based health care providers. Decisions involving post-acute service vendors are analyzed to determine the relative impact of each attribute set in the selection of respiratory therapy services by patients and health care professionals. Data are presented that point to significant differences in decision-making styles between patients and health professionals, as well as among health care providers in different organizational, institutional, and professional roles. Key marketing implications are discussed.     

Joint working in community mental health teams: implementation of an integrated care pathway

Abstract Integration of community mental health services is a key policy objective that aims to increase quality and efficiency of care. Integrated care pathways (ICPs) are a mechanism designed to formalise multi-agency working at an operational level and are currently being applied to mental health services. Evidence regarding the impact of this tool to support joint working is mixed, and there is limited evidence regarding the suitability of ICPs for complex, community-based services. The present study was set in one primary care trust (PCT) in Scotland that is currently implementing an ICP for community mental health teams (CMHTs) across the region. The aim of the study was to investigate professionals' experiences and views on the implementation of an ICP within adult CMHTs in order to generate learning points for other organisations which are considering developing and implementing such systems. The study used qualitative methods which comprised of individual interviews with three CMHT leaders and two service development managers, as well as group interviews with members of four adult CMHTs. Data was analysed using the constant comparison method. Participants reported positive views regarding joint working and the role of an ICP in theory. However, in practice, teams were not implementing the ICP. Lack of integration at higher organisational levels was found to create conflicts within the teams which became explicit in response to the ICP. Implementation was also hindered by lack of resources for ongoing support, team development and change management. In conclusion, the study suggests that operational systems such as ICPs do not address and cannot overcome wider organisational barriers to integration of mental health services. Integrated care pathways need to be developed with strategic input as well as practitioner involvement and ownership. Team development, education about integration and change management are essential if ICPs are to foster and support joint working in integrated teams.     

Health and poverty among elderly persons: a community-oriented primary care survey

Providing health care for independent-living elderly persons is important, yet family physicians often lack accurate information about needs and access to care. The Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC) approach and health status models from health services research provide a framework for assessing need and access to care. Personal interviews were conducted with 990 noninstitutionalized elderly persons in Youngstown, Ohio. Results showed that poverty, gender, and race were not strongly related to health status as measured by numbers of symptoms, functional status, or subjective health status. In addition, elderly persons had fewer health care needs and greater access to care than expected. Simple models of health status, need, and access do not seem to apply. The study shows the usefulness of COPC in planning health services; however, more effort is needed to refine measures of health status, need, and access.     

Sharing obstetric care: barriers to integrated systems of care

OBJECTIVES: To map the provision of shared obstetric care in Victoria, and investigate the views of care providers about the ways in which current practice could be improved. METHOD: All Victorian public hospitals with > or = 300 births per annum and a purposive sample of hospitals with < 300 births per annum were mailed a questionnaire seeking information about current practice. Interviews with key informants (n = 32) were conducted at four case study sites. RESULTS: The response rate to the hospital survey was 98% (42/43). Fourteen different models of shared care were identified. Two-thirds of hospitals with > or = 300 births per annum (16/28) had three or more different models of shared care. Six hospitals (15%) had written guidelines for all models of shared care offered; 13 (32%) had written guidelines covering some models. Practice varied considerably in relation to: exclusion criteria, recommended schedule of visits and use of patient-held records. There was little consensus about the content of visits and responsibility for covering particular aspects of care. Few hospitals (6/42) had written information for women about shared care. Care providers expressed divergent views regarding the question of where ultimate responsibility lies for individual patient care and for the overall management of shared care. CONCLUSIONS: Current funding arrangements provide strong incentives to expand enrollment in shared obstetric care. Expansion of shared care has occurred without the development of formal, consultative and agreed arrangements between providers, or adequate provision for monitoring, evaluation and review. The variety, complexity and fluidity of models of shared care and lack of agreed procedures contribute to difficulties experienced by both providers and women participating in shared care. IMPLICATIONS: Detailed evidence-based agreed guidelines developed in consultation with hospital and community providers, and provision of improved information to women about what to expect in shared care arrangements are urgently required.     

Prioritization of implementation barriers related to integrated care models in Central and Eastern European countries

The importance of integrated care will increase in future health systems due to aging populations and patients with chronic multimorbidity, however, such complex healthcare interventions are often developed and implemented in higher income countries. For Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries it is important to investigate which integrated care models are transferable to their setting and facilitate the implementation of relevant models by identifying barriers to their implementation. This study investigates the relative importance of integrated care models and the most critical barriers for their implementation in CEE countries. Experts from Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Serbia were invited to complete an online survey within the SELFIE H2020 project. 81 respondents completed the survey. Although experts indicated that some integrated care models were already being implemented in CEE countries, the survey revealed a great need for further improvement in the integration of care, especially the managed care of oncology patients, coordinated palliative care of terminally ill patients, and nursing care of elderly with multimorbidity. Lack of long-term financial sustainability as well as of dedicated financing schemes were seen the most critical implementation barriers, followed by the lack of integration between health and social care providers and insufficient availability of human resources. These insights can guide future policy making on integrated care in CEE countries.     

Systematically reviewing qualitative studies complements survey design: an exploratory study of barriers to paediatric immunisations

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Designing survey questions requires content expertise, awareness of previous qualitative literature, and piloting. We examined surveys addressing parental barriers to vaccinating children to determine if they comprehensively included themes identified in published qualitative studies. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search of 12 electronic databases and compared questions asked in eligible surveys identified to issues raised in qualitative studies. Issues included nine themes related to harm, six related to distrust, eight to issues of access, and three other issues. RESULTS: The 29 eligible surveys failed to adequately address several important themes identified in qualitative studies. The number that failed to address the following themes were as follows: beliefs that vaccines cause diseases (n = 26); painful (n = 25); distrust of medical community (n = 28); communication problems with staff (n = 25); memories of their own or others adverse experiences (n = 28); fear of long-term effects (n = 26); belief the medical community does not understand adverse events associated with vaccines (n = 28); and parent's own lack of knowledge about diseases (n = 29). CONCLUSIONS: Many surveys of parental barriers to immunization failed to address a number of important themes identified in qualitative studies. To the extent this is true in other areas, ensuring that investigators have conducted an adequate number and variety of qualitative studies, and systematically reviewing those studies, will improve surveys' content validity.     

Medication errors and consequences for nursing professionals and clients: an exploratory study

The purpose of this study was to analyzed the consequences for the patients and professionals involved in medication. The author adopted as the methodological reference the Critical Incident Technique modificated. The study was developed at a University Hospital at the state of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected through interviews with 7 nurses, 4 nursing technicians and 23nursing auxillaries. The analysis enabled the identification consequences for the patient and consequences for the professional involved.     

The barriers and facilitators to routine outcome measurement by allied health professionals in practice: a systematic review

Background

HIV voluntary counselling and testing was a key HIV prevention strategy brought to scale by India's National AIDS Control Organization. Condom uptake is an essential metric of intervention impact given the expansion of the epidemic into an increasingly diverse population. With only 20% of first-time counselling and testing clients at the largest HIV treatment hospital in south India reporting previous condom use, the question of intervention impact on condom use deserves investigation. In this study, we track intervention impact across various demographic groups and identify the added value of more thorough counselling.

Methods

Data were collected from 8,865 individuals who attended counselling multiple times at the Tamil Nadu Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine over the years 2004-2009. Counsellors recorded client demographic characteristics, HIV risk behaviours reported, and counselling services provided after each counselling session. Matching and regression methods were used to determine the probability of condom uptake by serostatus, gender, and receipt of personalized risk reduction counselling while controlling for other characteristics.

Results

HIV counselling and testing was associated with condom uptake among 29.2% of HIV positive women (CI 24.5-34.4%), 31.7% of HIV positive men (CI 27.8-35.4%), 15.5% of HIV negative women (CI 11.2-20.8%), and only 3.6% of HIV negative men (CI 1.9-5.9%) who had previously never used condoms. Personalized risk reduction counselling increased impact in some groups; for example an additional 18% of HIV negative women (CI 11.3-24.4%) and 17% of HIV positive men (CI 10.9-23.4%) started using condoms. The number of sexual partners was not associated with the impact of counselling completeness.

Conclusions

Because the components of testing and counselling impact the condom use habits of men and women differently, understanding the dynamics of condom use negotiation between partners is essential to optimizing impact on Indian couples. Clients' predicted condom uptake ranged between 4% and 47% depending on factors like gender, serostatus, and services provided. Personalized risk reduction counselling is associated with increased chance of condom use, with larger gains in HIV negative women and HIV positive men. HIV negative men are least likely to start using condoms and least impacted by additional counselling.     

Provider insights about palliative care barriers and facilitators: results of a rapid ethnographic assessment

Palliative care remains underutilized in the United States. This may represent failure of translation of research into practice (diffusion of innovation). Qualitative methods can identify barriers to and facilitators of diffusion of innovation. The aim is to identify potential barriers to and facilitators of inpatient palliative care utilization at a large urban hospital, as articulated by health professionals. Rapid ethnographic assessment methods were used among health professionals with subsequent extraction of predominant themes illuminating factors influencing adoption of palliative care services. In all, 3 stakeholder categories and 7 major themes emerged. Analysis revealed consistent need for organized, cross-disciplinary education/training services and a clearly-defined team approach. Denial at all stakeholder levels and in most themes was a barrier to implementation of palliative care. Consistent, defined educational, policymaking, and procedural standards were requirements for best adoption of palliative care. Denial was a striking obstruction to diffusion of innovation.     

Caring for themselves: facilitators and barriers to women home care workers who are chronically ill following their care plan

Compliance literature has paid little attention to the ability of patients to carry out their care plan. Indeed, throughout this literature, the voices of patients are disturbingly absent. In this paper, I report a study of compliance issues among women home care workers who were chronically ill. Twenty-nine women participated in five focus groups. They were asked to share perspectives on what helps, what hinders, and how their health care providers were either facilitators or barriers to their care plan. Key findings were identified through a qualitative content analysis. My findings suggest that perspectives on compliance, which do not begin with an understanding of factors affecting compliance within the individual's control, are unrealistic. For these women, following a care plan required being sufficiently motivated and having necessary supports. Supports were identified as good doctor-patient communication, adequate financial resources, time and ability to attend to their care, and spirituality. Yet, even if all supports were in place, if participants did not have a stated motivation (i.e. sufficient reason to follow their care plan), they continued to go through the motions. My study suggests that recognizing the personal context of chronic illness may be what motivates patients to follow their care plan. This finding can be used by providers for patient assessment, and may help to form a foundation for empathic communication.     

Determination of fees by professionals: an exploratory investigation of dentists

Previous research has attempted to infer dentists' pricing practices from aggregate data, such as those derived from insurance claims. In a disaggregated analysis based on a mail survey of 327 dentists in private practice, the authors find the most important influence on dental fees to be cost, followed by fees charged by other dentists and perceptions of patient sensitivity to prices. The relative importance of the various influences on dentists' fees is related to several practice characteristics, including location and gross income.