Situations of Inequities in Access to Essential Health Care Services among Older People: A Qualitative Study
Keywords:
situations of inequities, access to health care services, access to essential health care services among older people, older peopleAbstract
This descriptive qualitative research aimed to explain perspectives on the situation of inequities in accessing essential health care services among older people in Phayao Province. The data was collected through in-depth interviews. The participants included older people, elderly caregivers, health personnel, community leaders, public health volunteers, and local government organization. A total of 18 people were selected by the purposive method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in depth until the information was saturated. The data were transcribed word for word and analyzed using the thematic analysis method.
The results revealed that the situation of inequalities in accessing essential health services for the elderly provided four main perspectives: 1) the definition and characteristics of access to essential health care services for the elderly; 2) characteristics of inequities; 3) related factors of inequities; and 4) the methods to reduce inequities.
Recommendations: focusing on the situations of inequities in accessing essential health care services for the elderly leads to their problems and both internal and external related factors that are specific to each context, especially ethnic elderly people, and could be used to develop a model of health care services for reducing inequities appropriate to each area.
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