Access to health services is important because the timely use of health services will improve the best health outcomes (Healthy People 2020, 2016). It also makes a significant difference to the quality of life that people live. Lecca, Quervalu, Nunes and Gonzales (2013) define inaccessibility as one that may either be too costly or never a part of the practitioner's comprehensive approach to therapy and treatment. It is unfortunate that not everyone has the opportunity to obtain a timely health care service due to several reasons which include the inaccessible health insurance services, lack of education about the available healthcare services in the community, poverty, cultural and ethnical disparities and the lack of education about the need for healthcare services. It is notable that the healthcare industry expanded its concept of adapting to the needs of the public for healthcare services and health education services are readily available and accessible to the community. The problem often lies on the fact that these services are yet to reach the minority class in the society.
More often, health practitioners provide health education and prevention services in an inappropriate fashion which is not culturally competent with language barriers and failure to overcome cultural differences. As noted by Singleton and Krause (2009), low health literacy, limited language proficiency and cultural barriers are major threat to effective health communication which often challenges the accessibility provision in the healthcare system. Education and information are two important factors towards making health services accessible to the public. Both are interlinked because the ability to assimilate health messages is likely to be influenced by the level of general education of the health service recipients (Ensor and Cooper, 2004). In certain cases, the health services proposed by the health care provider are often not in line with the patient's beliefs and expectations which contribute to the restriction of access of the available healthcare services with the deliberate refusal of the patient to use the same.
The use of health services involves the process of looking for professional health care to receive the application of regular health services to prevent sickness or to treat a health problem (Scheppers, et al., 2006). The delivery of accessible and quality health service involves patient safety as the cornerstone of any health services. Access to safe health services is empirical to patient safety. Woten (2015) emphasizes that healthcare organizations need to be accredited for regulatory purposes. This will ensure that they adopt the best patient safety practices. Incidence related to patient safety issues includes the identification of the wrong patient when providing medication or treatment or a patient receiving the wrong medication or treatment. When these errors happen, the consequence may lead to risk to patient safety and life.
There is a wide dimension of factors affecting access to health services. These are described by Levesque, Harris and Russel (2013) as not limited to the costs of health services itself, but also involve other determinants such as the individual characteristics of a person like where they live, their social status, cultural beliefs, economic resources, the location of the healthcare facilities, the number of healthcare providers and the supplies available within the healthcare facilities.
The inadequacy of access to healthcare services serves as a barrier to obtaining better health outcomes. Access may entail different concepts, such as limiting one’s capacity to avail of quality health services due the costs, limited healthcare facilities, and available healthcare providers. It may also be within the perspectives of the inefficient delivery of care that are not culturally competent in addressing the individual’s beliefs and values which prevent the access of readily available healthcare services. Thus, facilitating access to health services should involve the establishment of appropriate resources including research that will help in the efficient delivery of quality health care services to preserve, prevent and improve health (Gulliford, 2002). This approach will help address the lack of healthcare access to the community, including the minority groups. It is highly recommended to deliver equitable access to the healthcare system through the collaborative efforts in the policy making process involving all stakeholders in order to address common barriers to the access to health services.
References:
Ensor, T. and Cooper, S. (2004). Overcoming barriers to health service access: influencing the demand side. Health Policy and Planning, 19(2):69-79.
Lecca, P.J., Quervalu, I., Nunes, J.V. and Gonzales, H.F. (2013). Cultural Competency in Health, Social & Human Services: Directions for the Twenty-First Century. New York: Garland Publishing.
Levesque, J., Harris, M.F. and Russel, G. (2013). Patient-centred access to health care: conceptualising access at the interface of health systems and populations. International Journal for Equity in Health, 12:18.
Scheppers, et al. (2006). Potential barriers to the use of health services among ethnic minorities: a review. Family Practice, 23(3): 325-348.
Singleton, K. and Krause, E.M (2009). Understanding cultural and linguistic barriers to health literacy. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3).
Steinwachs, D.M. and Hughes, R.G. (2008). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The National Policy Consensus Center (2004). Improving healthcare access: Finding solutions in a time of crisis. Oregon: The National Policy Consensus Center.
Woten, M. (2015). Evidence-Based Care Sheet: National Patient Safety Goals: The Joint Commission. Glendale, Canada: CINAHL Information Systems.
