Barriers to Responsiveness and Provision of Dignified care: A qualitative study of Israeli Physicians

Although physicians recognize the importance of providing quality and respectful treatment, many physicians face organizational barriers and constraints that hinder responsive and respectful care. While theoretical literature on the issue underscores a variety of organizational barriers that obstruct the delivery of medical treatment in healthcare settings, there has been limited research on the obstacles to responsiveness.

To explore physicians' perceptions of the obstacles they encounter in delivering dignified and responsive medical care.

A qualitative thematic analysis of twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews with physicians employed in Israeli public hospitals.

The findings highlight the barriers that physicians encounter when implementing dignified, responsive treatment. The barriers are classified at three levels: organizational (macro), group (meso), and individual (micro). The organizational limitations (macro) are associated with the size of the hospital and budgetary and financial constraints; the group-level constraints (meso) include employment conditions (wages, workload, burnout, and excessive administrative and bureaucratic requirements); and the individual-level barriers (micro) focus mostly on personal skills of the physicians.

By identifying the barriers to providing responsive treatment, hospital management and physicians can take steps to minimize and remove such barriers and, by doing so, to ensure that patients receive the respectful care they deserve.