Dataset Information

Barriers to accessing adequate maternal care in Georgia: a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The maternal health outcomes in Georgia are linked to shortcomings in healthcare such as inequities in access to adequate maternal care. Due to the macro-level, quantitative approach applied in most previous studies, little is known about the underlying reasons that influence maternal care and care-seeking behaviour of pregnant women.

Methods

This qualitative study explores the stakeholders' perspectives on access to adequate maternal care in Georgia. Focus-group discussions are conducted with mothers who gave birth within in the past four years and in-depth interviews are conducted with decision-makers and health professionals in the field. Five access-related aspects are studied: availability, appropriateness, affordability, approachability and acceptability of maternal care. The method of direct content analysis is applied.

Results

Results indicate problems with maternal care standards, inequalities across population groups and drawbacks in maternal care financing. This includes gaps in clinical quality and staff skills, as well as poor communication between women and health professionals. Geographical barriers to adequate maternal care exist in rural and mountainous areas due to the weak infrastructure (poor roads and weak transportation), in addition to financial hardships. Despite improvements in the coverage of maternal care, affordability remains an access barrier. Poorer population groups are financially unprotected from the high out-of-pocket payments for maternal care services.

Conclusion

These findings imply that micro-level indicators, such as disrespectful behaviour of health professionals and affordability of care, should be taken into account when assessing maternal care provision in Georgia. It should complement the existing macro-level indicators for a comprehensive evaluation of maternal care.

SUBMITTER: Miteniece E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6090778 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Barriers to accessing adequate maternal care in Georgia: a qualitative study.

Miteniece Elina E Pavlova Milena M Shengelia Lela L Rechel Bernd B Groot Wim W

BMC health services research 20180813 1

<h4>Background</h4>The maternal health outcomes in Georgia are linked to shortcomings in healthcare such as inequities in access to adequate maternal care. Due to the macro-level, quantitative approach applied in most previous studies, little is known about the underlying reasons that influence maternal care and care-seeking behaviour of pregnant women.<h4>Methods</h4>This qualitative study explores the stakeholders' perspectives on access to adequate maternal care in Georgia. Focus-group discus ...[more]

PMID: 30103763

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundIncreased maternal health care (MHC) service utilisation in Bangladesh over the past decades has contributed to improvements in maternal health outcomes nationally, yet there is little understanding of Indigenous women's experiences of accessing MHC services in Bangladesh.MethodsFace-to-face semi-structured qualitative interviews with 21 Indigenous women (aged 15-49 years) within 36 months of delivery from three ethnic groups (Chakma, Marma and Tripura) were conducted between September 2017 and February 2018 in Khagrachhari district. Purposive sampling was used to recruit women representative of the population distribution in terms of age, ethnic community and service use experience. All interviews were conducted in Bangla language and audio-recorded with consent. Interviews were transcribed directly into English before being coded. Data were analysed thematically using a qualitative descriptive approach aided by NVivo12 software.ResultsOf the 21 women interviewed, 14 had accessed at least one MHC service during their last pregnancy or childbirth and were categorised as the User group. The remaining seven participants were categorised as 'Non-users' as they had not access antenatal care, facility delivery or postnatal care services. Women reported that they wanted culturally relevant, respectful, home-based and affordable care, and generally perceived formal MHC services as being only for complications and emergencies. Barriers to accessing MHC services included low levels of understanding about the importance of MHC services, concerns about service costs, limited transport and fears of intrusive practices. Experiences within health services that deterred women from accessing future MHC services included demands for unofficial payments and abusive treatment by public facility staff.ConclusionImproving access to MHC services for the CHT Indigenous women requires improved understandings of cultural values, priorities and concerns. Multifaceted reform is needed at individual, community and health systems levels to offer culturally appropriate health education and flexible service delivery options.

Project description:ImportancePatient-perceived barriers to hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) care are poorly understood. Understanding health care barriers is a critical first step toward improving care for this population.ObjectiveTo characterize the health care experiences of people living with HS, including perceived barriers and facilitators to health care access, and to elucidate potential associations among these barriers and facilitators, health care access, and disease activity.Design, setting, and participantsIn this qualitative study, an inductive thematic analysis was conducted on 45 in-depth, 60- to 90-minute semistructured interviews of 45 people with HS from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds that took place between March and April 2020. Individuals were eligible if they could speak English, were 18 years or older, and were diagnosed with HS. A diagnosis of HS was confirmed through physician diagnosis or through self-reported, affirmative response to the validated screening question, "Do you experience boils in your armpits or groin that recur at least every six months?"Main outcomes and measuresInterviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. A modified grounded theory approach was used to develop the codebook, which investigators used for inductive thematic analysis.ResultsAmong the 45 participants included, the median (IQR) age was 37 (16) years, 33 (73%) were female, and 22 (49%) were White. There were 6 interrelated themes associated with participant-perceived barriers to accessing HS care: (1) bidirectional associations of disease activity and employment, (2) association of employment with health care coverage, (3) association of health care coverage with costs and perceived access to care, (4) association of costs with access to patient-centered care, (5) health care professional attitudes and knowledge influence patient-centered care and perceived access to care and disease activity, and (6) health system characteristics influence patient-centered care and associated costs, perceived access to care, and disease activity.Conclusions and relevanceThis qualitative study highlights themes that generate a conceptual model for understanding barriers that may act synergistically to limit health care access and influence disease activity. The disease activity of HS may be reduced when cycle elements are optimized. This study also highlights areas for future investigations and potential systems-level changes to improve access to patient-centered HS care.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Over 1 million Canadians have class II or III obesity; however, access to weight-loss interventions for these patients remains limited. The purpose of our study was to identify the barriers to accessing medical and surgical weight-loss interventions from the perspectives of 3 groups: family physicians, patients who were referred for weight-loss intervention and patients who were not referred for weight-loss intervention. METHODS:Between November 2017 and May 2018, we conducted a qualitative exploratory research study using focus groups with family physicians and interviews with patients with class II or III obesity from 1 region in southern Ontario. We conducted a thematic analysis to identify emergent themes and used the barriers to change theory to classify the similarities and differences between the perspectives of family physicians, referred patients and nonreferred patients in first- and second-order barriers. RESULTS:Seventeen family physicians participated in 7 focus groups (1-4 participants/group), and we interviewed 8 referred patients and 7 nonreferred patients. We identified lack of resource supports, logistics and lack of knowledge about weight-loss interventions as first-order barriers to change, and lack of knowledge about root causes of obesity, lack of patient readiness for change and family physicians' perceptions about surgical weight loss as second-order barriers to change. Family physicians and patients had similar perceptions regarding lack of resource supports in the community, logistical issues, family physicians' lack of knowledge regarding weight-loss interventions, patients' lack of motivation and family physicians' perceptions of bariatric surgery as being high risk. They differed regarding the root cause of obesity, with family physicians attributing obesity to multiple extrinsic and intrinsic causes, whereas patients believed obesity was largely due to intrinsic causes alone. INTERPRETATION:It is important to address first- and second-order barriers to accessing weight-loss interventions through continuing professional development activities for family physicians to help ensure effective and timely treatment for patients with class II or III obesity and related comorbidities.

Project description:ObjectivePsychosocial and economic (socioeconomic) barriers, including poverty, stigma and catastrophic costs, impede access to tuberculosis (TB) services in low-income countries. We aimed to characterise the socioeconomic barriers and facilitators of accessing TB services in Nepal to inform the design of a locally appropriate socioeconomic support intervention for TB-affected households.DesignFrom August 2018 to July 2019, we conducted an exploratory qualitative study consisting of semistructured focus group discussions (FGDs) with purposively selected multisectoral stakeholders. The data were managed in NVivo V.12, coded by consensus and analysed thematically.SettingThe study was conducted in four districts, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Dhanusha and Mahottari, which have a high prevalence of poverty and TB.ParticipantsSeven FGDs were conducted with 54 in-country stakeholders, grouped by stakeholders, including people with TB (n=21), community stakeholders (n=13) and multidisciplinary TB healthcare professionals (n=20) from the National TB Programme.ResultsThe perceived socioeconomic barriers to accessing TB services were: inadequate TB knowledge and advocacy; high food and transportation costs; income loss and stigma. The perceived facilitators to accessing TB care and services were: enhanced championing and awareness-raising about TB and TB services; social protection including health insurance; cash, vouchers and/or nutritional allowance to cover food and travel costs; and psychosocial support and counselling integrated with existing adherence counselling from the National TB Programme.ConclusionThese results suggest that support interventions that integrate TB education, psychosocial counselling and expand on existing cash transfer schemes would be locally appropriate and could address the socioeconomic barriers to accessing and engaging with TB services faced by TB-affected households in Nepal. The findings have been used to inform the design of a socioeconomic support intervention for TB-affected households. The acceptability, feasibility and impact of this intervention on TB-related costs, stigma and TB treatment outcomes, is now being evaluated in a pilot implementation study in Nepal.

Project description:IntroductionOver the past decade, the number of refugees arriving in the United States (U.S.) has increased dramatically. Refugees arrive with unmet health needs and may face barriers when seeking care. However, little is known about how refugees perceive and access care when acutely ill. The goal of this study was to understand barriers to access of acute care by newly arrived refugees, and identify potential improvements from refugees and resettlement agencies.MethodsThis was an in-depth, qualitative interview study of refugees and employees from refugee resettlement and post-resettlement agencies in a city in the Northeast U.S. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded independently by two investigators. Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached. We analyzed transcripts using a modified grounded theory approach.ResultsInterviews were completed with 16 refugees and 12 employees from refugee resettlement/post-resettlement agencies. Participants reported several barriers to accessing acute care including challenges understanding the U.S. healthcare system, difficulty scheduling timely outpatient acute care visits, significant language barriers in all acute care settings, and confusion over the intricacies of health insurance. The novelty and complexity of the U.S. healthcare system drives refugees to resettlement agencies for assistance. Resettlement agency employees express concern with directing refugees to appropriate levels of care and report challenges obtaining timely access to sick visits. While receiving emergency department (ED) care, refugees experience communication barriers due to limitations in consistent interpretation services.ConclusionRefugees face multiple barriers when accessing acute care. Interventions in the ED, outpatient settings, and in resettlement agencies, have the potential to reduce barriers to care. Examples could include interpretation services that allow for clinic phone scheduling and easier access to interpreter services within the ED. Additionally, extending the Refugee Medical Assistance program may limit gaps in insurance coverage and avoid insurance-related barriers to seeking care.

Project description:BackgroundSyria has made progress in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity before the conflict in 2011. Despite the improvement in antenatal care (ANC) coverage and patterns of use, analyses of national surveys demonstrated wide regional variations in uptake, timing and number of visits even after controlling for women's socio-demographic characteristics. This study compares two governorates: Latakia, where uptake of ANC was high and Aleppo, where uptake of ANC was low to highlight the barriers to women's adequate uptake of ANC that existed in Syria pre-conflict.MethodsThis qualitative study carried out 30 semi-structured interviews with (18-45-year-old) pregnant women from Aleppo and Latakia (recruited purposively from different types of health facilities in rural and urban areas), and 15 observation sessions at health facilities. Transcripts and fieldnotes were analyzed using the Framework Method with attention to the dimensions of availability, accessibility and acceptability of services.ResultsInadequate uptake of ANC in Aleppo included not attending ANC, seeking care with providers who are not trained to provide ANC or discontinuing care. Three themes explained the regional disparities in the uptake of ANC in Aleppo and Latakia: women's assessment of their health status and reasoning of causes of ill health in pregnancy; women's evaluation of the risks of seeking ANC; and women's appraisal of the value of different types of service providers. Poor experiences at public health facilities were reported by women in Aleppo but not by women in Latakia. Evaluations of ANC services were connected with the availability, accessibility (geographical and financial) and acceptability of ANC services, however, women's views were shaped by the knowledge and prevailing opinions in their families and community.ConclusionsFindings are utilized to discuss low-cost interventions addressing the disparities in ANC uptake. Interventions should aim to enable vulnerable women to make informed decisions focusing on regions of low uptake. Women's groups that foster education and empowerment, which have been effective in other low resource settings, could be of value in Syria. Increased use of mobile phones and social media platforms suggests mobile health technologies (mHealth) may present efficient platforms to deliver these interventions.

Dataset Information

Barriers to accessing adequate maternal care in Georgia: a qualitative study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Barriers to accessing adequate maternal care in Georgia: a qualitative study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets