Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future
Background In Aotearoa/New Zealand, the first nation-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown occurred from March 23, 2020 to May 13, 2020, requiring most people to stay at home. Health services had to suddenly change how they delivered healthcare and some services were limited or postpone...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Kerman University of Medical Sciences
2022-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4031_5f73e8dd8cefe6285536c8bad94698df.pdf |
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| author | Fiona Imlach Eileen McKinlay Jonathan Kennedy Megan Pledger Lesley Middleton Jacqueline Cumming Karen McBride-Henry |
| author_facet | Fiona Imlach Eileen McKinlay Jonathan Kennedy Megan Pledger Lesley Middleton Jacqueline Cumming Karen McBride-Henry |
| author_sort | Fiona Imlach |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background In Aotearoa/New Zealand, the first nation-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown occurred from March 23, 2020 to May 13, 2020, requiring most people to stay at home. Health services had to suddenly change how they delivered healthcare and some services were limited or postponed. This study investigated access to healthcare during this lockdown period, whether patients delayed seeking healthcare and reasons for these delays, focusing on the accessibility of primary care services. Methods Adults (aged 18 years or older) who had contact with primary care services were invited through social media and email lists to participate in an online survey (n = 1010) and 38 people were recruited for in-depth interviews. We thematically analysed qualitative data from the survey and interviews, reported alongside relevant descriptive survey results. Results More than half (55%) of survey respondents delayed seeking healthcare during lockdown. Factors at a national or health system-level that could influence delay were changing public service messages, an excessive focus on COVID-19 and urgent issues, and poor service integration. Influential factors at a primary care-level were communication and outreach, use of technology, gatekeeping, staff manner and the safety of the clinical practice environment. Factors that influenced patients’ individual decisions to seek healthcare were the ability to self-manage and self-triage, consciousness of perceived pressure on health services and fear of infection. Conclusion In future pandemic lockdowns or crises, appropriate access to primary care services can be improved by unambiguous national messages and better integration of services. Primary care practices should adopt rapid proactive outreach to patients, fostering a calm but safe clinical practice environment. More support for patients to self-manage and self-triage appropriately could benefit over-burdened health systems during lockdowns and as part of business as usual in less extraordinary times. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:28:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-328958e928a3454db211de669a106f59 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2322-5939 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:28:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Kerman University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-328958e928a3454db211de669a106f592023-03-07T09:11:26ZengKerman University of Medical SciencesInternational Journal of Health Policy and Management2322-59392022-08-011181316132410.34172/ijhpm.2021.264031Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the FutureFiona Imlach0Eileen McKinlay1Jonathan Kennedy2Megan Pledger3Lesley Middleton4Jacqueline Cumming5Karen McBride-Henry6Health Services Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New ZealandDepartment of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago, Wellington, New ZealandDepartment of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago, Wellington, New ZealandHealth Services Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New ZealandHealth Services Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New ZealandHealth Services Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New ZealandSchool of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Practice, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New ZealandBackground In Aotearoa/New Zealand, the first nation-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown occurred from March 23, 2020 to May 13, 2020, requiring most people to stay at home. Health services had to suddenly change how they delivered healthcare and some services were limited or postponed. This study investigated access to healthcare during this lockdown period, whether patients delayed seeking healthcare and reasons for these delays, focusing on the accessibility of primary care services. Methods Adults (aged 18 years or older) who had contact with primary care services were invited through social media and email lists to participate in an online survey (n = 1010) and 38 people were recruited for in-depth interviews. We thematically analysed qualitative data from the survey and interviews, reported alongside relevant descriptive survey results. Results More than half (55%) of survey respondents delayed seeking healthcare during lockdown. Factors at a national or health system-level that could influence delay were changing public service messages, an excessive focus on COVID-19 and urgent issues, and poor service integration. Influential factors at a primary care-level were communication and outreach, use of technology, gatekeeping, staff manner and the safety of the clinical practice environment. Factors that influenced patients’ individual decisions to seek healthcare were the ability to self-manage and self-triage, consciousness of perceived pressure on health services and fear of infection. Conclusion In future pandemic lockdowns or crises, appropriate access to primary care services can be improved by unambiguous national messages and better integration of services. Primary care practices should adopt rapid proactive outreach to patients, fostering a calm but safe clinical practice environment. More support for patients to self-manage and self-triage appropriately could benefit over-burdened health systems during lockdowns and as part of business as usual in less extraordinary times.https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4031_5f73e8dd8cefe6285536c8bad94698df.pdfprimary healthcarepandemiccovid-19accesshealth servicesnew zealand |
| spellingShingle | Fiona Imlach Eileen McKinlay Jonathan Kennedy Megan Pledger Lesley Middleton Jacqueline Cumming Karen McBride-Henry Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future International Journal of Health Policy and Management primary healthcare pandemic covid-19 access health services new zealand |
| title | Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future |
| title_full | Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future |
| title_fullStr | Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future |
| title_short | Seeking Healthcare During Lockdown: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons for the Future |
| title_sort | seeking healthcare during lockdown challenges opportunities and lessons for the future |
| topic | primary healthcare pandemic covid-19 access health services new zealand |
| url | https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4031_5f73e8dd8cefe6285536c8bad94698df.pdf |
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