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Barriers to accessing rural paediatric speech pathology services: health care consumers' perspectives
Anna M O'Callaghan1, Lindy McAllister, Linda Wilson
1School of Community Health, Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga, New South Wales, Australia. annamocallaghan@hotmail.com
Objective:
An investigation of consumers' perceived barriers to access paediatric speech pathology services.
Design:
Self-administered, mail-out questionnaire.
Setting:
Rural and remote New South Wales (NSW).
Subjects:
Three hundred and twenty-nine members of the NSW branch of the Isolated Children's and Parents' Association.
Results:
Consumers living in rural and remote areas experience a number of barriers that affected their ability to access speech pathology services. These barriers include the lack, and limited choice, of speech pathologists in rural areas; long distances to travel to access services, expensive travel costs, lack of public transport; poor awareness of speech pathology services; and delays in treatment due to waiting lists.
Conclusion:
Barriers to access paediatric speech pathology services limit rural and remote consumers' usage of health services, regardless of need, indicating a possible inequity if compared to larger, more accessible urban areas.
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