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Barriers to well child care for homeless children under age 13
J G Riemer1, L Van Cleve, M Galbraith
1County of Riverside Health Services Agency, California.
Insights
Homeless families face significant barriers to children's preventive healthcare, including appointment wait times and transportation costs. The duration of homelessness did not correlate with these perceived healthcare access challenges.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Sociology
Background:
- Preventive healthcare access for children in homeless families is underdocumented.
- Understanding barriers is crucial for improving child health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify perceived barriers to preventive healthcare for children under 13 among homeless families.
- To examine the relationship between perceived barriers and the duration of homelessness.
Main Methods:
- Descriptive study utilizing a modified Melnyk's Barrier Scale and demographic measure.
- Survey of 53 homeless families across three transitional shelters.
- Convenience sampling method.
Main Results:
- Top barriers included provider selection, waiting for and during appointments, and transportation/parking costs.
- No significant relationship was found between the duration of homelessness and perceived barriers.
- Findings confirm previously suggested barriers to care.
Conclusions:
- Homeless families encounter substantial obstacles in accessing pediatric preventive care.
- Innovative healthcare delivery models like shelter-site clinics and mobile units are recommended.
- Nurse liaisons can bridge gaps between shelters and healthcare facilities.
Abstract:
Barriers perceived by homeless families to preventive health care for their children under age 13 have been underdocumented. This descriptive study was designed to identify perceived barriers to care and to determine if there was a relationship between perceived barriers and duration of the family's homelessness. Using an investigator-modified version of Melnyk's Barrier Scale and a demographic measure, a convenience sample of homeless families (n = 53) from three transitional shelters was surveyed via questionnaire. Four barriers were cited most frequently by the respondents as greatly affecting their children's care. These barriers involved provider-selection difficulties, waiting for well child appointments, waiting during well child appointments, and the high cost of transportation and/or parking. No relationship was found between duration of homelessness and perceived barriers. These findings confirm the reality of potential barriers to care suggested by earlier studies. Innovative forms of health care delivery that may reduce or eliminate these barriers include the use of shelter-site clinics, mobile units, and the use of a nurse liaison between family shelters and hospital-based clinics.