Dataset Information

Barriers to accessing maternal health care amongst pregnant adolescents in South Africa: a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:This study explores the barriers to accessing antenatal care (ANC) services amongst pregnant adolescents within a particular community of South Africa. METHODS:An exploratory qualitative design was applied to examine the views of pregnant adolescents. In-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant adolescents at the Mitchells Plain Midwifery Obstetric Unit, as well as nursing staff working at the facility. Thematic analysis was then used and analysis was framed using the social-ecological model for health-seeking behaviour. RESULTS:This study found that barriers to adolescents seeking ANC often centered on a discourse of adolescent pregnancy being deviant, irresponsible, and shameful. Pregnant adolescents often absorbed these beliefs and were fearful of other's reaction within their family, the community, at school, and within the ANC facilities. CONCLUSIONS:Stigma regarding adolescent pregnancy participates in the perpetuation of a culture of non-disclosure and shame, which stands in the way of young pregnant people seeking the care they require. Such beliefs and attitudes need to be challenged at a community and national level.

SUBMITTER: Erasmus MO

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7275000 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Barriers to accessing maternal health care amongst pregnant adolescents in South Africa: a qualitative study.

Erasmus Michelle Olivia MO Knight Lucia L Dutton Jessica J

International journal of public health 20200509 4

<h4>Objectives</h4>This study explores the barriers to accessing antenatal care (ANC) services amongst pregnant adolescents within a particular community of South Africa.<h4>Methods</h4>An exploratory qualitative design was applied to examine the views of pregnant adolescents. In-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant adolescents at the Mitchells Plain Midwifery Obstetric Unit, as well as nursing staff working at the facility. Thematic analysis was then used and analysis was framed using ...[more]

PMID: 32388574

Similar Datasets

Project description:Substance use is a well-established, and potentially modifiable, risk factor for suicide. Suicide prevention interventions are typically framed within the biomedical paradigm and focus on addressing individual risk factors, improving access to psychiatric care, and improving the skills of medical personnel to recognise at-risk individuals. Few studies have focused on contextual factors that hinder suicide prevention in people with substance use disorders, particularly in low-resource settings. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore mental health care providers' perceptions of barriers to suicide prevention in people with substance use disorders in South Africa.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 mental health care providers who worked with suicidal people with substance use disorders in Cape Town, South Africa. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and Atlas.ti software was used to code the data inductively.Two superordinate themes were identified: structural issues in service provision and broad contextual issues that pose barriers to suicide prevention. Participants thought that inadequate resources and insufficient training hindered them from preventing suicide. Fragmented service provision was perceived to lead to patients not receiving the psychiatric, psychological, and social care that they needed. Contextual problems such as poverty and inequality, the breakdown of family, and stigma made participants think that preventing suicide in people with substance use disorders was almost impossible.These findings suggest that structural, social, and economic issues serve as barriers to suicide prevention. This challenges individual risk-factor models of suicide prevention and highlights the need to consider a broad range of contextual and socio-cultural factors when planning suicide prevention interventions. Findings suggest that the responsibility for suicide prevention may need to be distributed between multiple stakeholders, necessitating intersectoral collaboration, more integrated health services, cautious use of task shifting, and addressing contextual factors in order to effectively prevent suicide in people with substance use disorders.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The transgender population has unique health risks, including increased risk of mental illness, substance abuse, suicide and a high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Worldwide studies indicate that this population is marginalised and faces barriers in accessing health care. In South Africa, there is limited information and research on the transgender population's interaction with health services. AIM:The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of the transgender population in accessing health care facilities for sexual and reproductive needs. SETTING:The study took place in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. METHODS:A qualitative study combining phenomenological and critical ethnographic approaches was conducted to explore the experiences of the transgender population in the health care setting. Critical ethnography was chosen because it is an emancipatory method that highlights the plight of disenfranchised groups, and phenomenology was used to illuminate experiences of the transgender population. Purposive snowball sampling was applied to select nine transgender participants who had experiences of contact with a health care setting. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion. RESULTS:Participants provided details about the paucity of facilities, resources and targeted programmes to cater for the transgender populations' sexual and reproductive health needs. The participants engage in high-risk behaviour, comprising unprotected sex and use of cross-gender hormones without medical supervision. Furthermore, the participants reported experiences of hostile and discriminatory behaviour by healthcare workers. CONCLUSION:It emerged that there is a paucity of resources and knowledge to provide appropriate health care services to the transgender population, resulting in adverse experiences. Policies on transgender care and training of health workers will contribute towards improvement of health care access for the transgender population.

Project description:BackgroundDue to the increasingly ageing society and the shortage of nursing human resources in China, the imbalance between the home care needs of older patients and the inadequate supply of nursing services is increasing. Based on this medical situation, China is implementing internet-based home care (with the nurses who provide this care called online nurses or sharing nurses) based on the concept of the sharing economy, internet technology and knowledge from the home care experience in other countries. Internet-based home care follows an online application/offline service model. Patients place orders through an app, nurses grab orders instantly, and managers dispatch orders through a web platform based on various factors such as nurses' qualifications, professionalism and distance from the patient. In this way, home care is provided for patients with limited mobility, such as older or disabled patients, patients in rehabilitation and terminal patients. Only by fully understanding the barriers to accessing internet-based home care can we provide quality nursing services to older patients and achieve the sustainable development of internet-based home care.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to use qualitative methods to explore barriers to accessing internet-based home care for older patients.MethodsBased on Levesque's access to health care framework, semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with 19 older patients in a descriptive qualitative study using directed content analysis.ResultsWe identified four barriers to accessing internet-based home care for older patients: barriers to perceiving, seeking, paying for, and engaging in internet-based home care. Specific barriers included traditional perceptions, barriers to internet use, high payment costs, uneven quality of services, and concerns about privacy and patient safety.ConclusionsInternet-based home care brings new risks and challenges. In order to enable older patients to better enjoy it, it is necessary to strengthen publicity, optimize the network application process, improve the health insurance system, formulate unified nursing service standards, and address safety risks.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Increased 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. METHODS:Face-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. RESULTS:Of 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. CONCLUSION:Improving 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:BACKGROUND:Little is known about the clinical presentation and outcomes amongst older HIV infected populations accessing ART in sub-Saharan Africa. We compared mortality amongst HIV infected patients accessing ART that were?<? 50 years to those ?50 years in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. METHODS:We undertook a retrospective review of medical records of patients that accessed HIV services at the CAPRISA AIDS Treatment program (CAT) between June 2004 to December 2012 (N?=?4003). HIV infected patients, 14 years or older were enrolled. All-cause mortality and treatment response to ART in those <?50 years to those ?50 years were compared. A Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test were used to compare the cumulative probability of death between the two age groups with the primary endpoint being mortality. Statistical analysis was done using SAS (version 9.4.; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). RESULTS:Of 4003 individuals, 262 (6.5%) were???50 years (older group). The median age in those ?50 years and?<? 50 year was 54.5 and 32.0 years, respectively. The younger group was mainly female (64.7%). There was no difference in mortality rate, between the older (6.9/100 person-years (py), 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.7-9.6) and younger group (5.3/100 py, 95% CI: 4.7-5.8) at 60 months (p?=?0.137). In the multivariable model older patients had a significantly higher risk of death compared to younger patients. (hazard ratio (HR) 1.60, 95% CI: 1.08-2.39, p?=?0.019).The rate of CD4+ cell count increase was higher in those <?50 years (??=?0.34, 95% CI: 0.19-0.50, p?<?0.001) with no difference in viral suppression. The older group showed significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (6.3%) and hypertension (21.5%), p?<?0.001. CONCLUSION:ART initiation in older HIV infected patients was associated with a higher mortality compared to those younger than 50 years. ART immunological response was less robust in older individuals. The increase in hypertension and diabetes among older patients suggests the need to restructure and integrate primary and specialized health care services into ART services.

Project description:Background There is a growing interest in redesigning healthcare systems to increase access to and coordination across care settings for people with chronic conditions. We aim to gain a better understanding of the barriers faced by (1) children with chronic bronchial asthma, (2) adults with non-specific chronic back pain, and (3) older people with pre-existing mental illness/es in Austria’s fragmented social health insurance system. Methods Using a qualitative design, we conducted semi-structured interviews face-to-face and by telephone with health service providers, researchers, experts by experience (persons with lived/ personal experience, i.e., service users, patient advocates or family members/carers), and employees in public health administration between July and October 2019. The analysis and interpretation of data were guided by Levesque’s model of access, a conceptual framework used to evaluate access broadly according to different dimensions of accessibility to care: approachability, acceptability, availability and accommodation, affordability, and appropriateness. Results The findings from the 25 expert interviews were organised within Levesque’s conceptual framework. They highlight a lack of coordination and defined patient pathways, particularly at the onset of the condition, when seeking a diagnosis, and throughout the care process. On the supply side, patterns of poor patient-provider communication, lack of a holistic therapeutic approach, an urban-rural divide, strict separation between social care and the healthcare system and limited consultation time were among the barriers identified. On the demand side, patients’ ability to perceive a need and to subsequently seek and reach healthcare services was an important barrier, closely linked to a patient’s socio-economic status, health literacy and ability to pay. Conclusions While studies on unmet needs suggest a very low level of barriers to accessing health care in the Austrian context, our study highlights potential ‘invisible’ barriers. Barriers to healthcare access are of concern for patients with chronic conditions, underlining existing findings about the need to improve health services according to patients’ specific needs. Research on how to structure timely and integrated care independent of social and economic resources, continuity of care, and significant improvements in patient-centred communication and coordination of care would be paramount. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08426-z.

Dataset Information

Barriers to accessing maternal health care amongst pregnant adolescents in South Africa: a qualitative study.

Publications

Barriers to accessing maternal health care amongst pregnant adolescents in South Africa: a qualitative study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets