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Article: A qualitative study of the views of patients with long-term conditions on family doctors in Hong Kong

TitleA qualitative study of the views of patients with long-term conditions on family doctors in Hong Kong
Authors
KeywordsMedical sciences
Issue Date2010
PublisherBioMed Central Ltd. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcfampract/
Citation
BMC Family Practice, 2010, v. 11, article no. 46 How to Cite?
AbstractBackground. Primary care based management of long-term conditions (LTCs) is high on the international healthcare agenda, including the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong has a 'mixed economy' healthcare system with both public and private sectors with a range of types of primary care doctors. Recent Hong Kong Government policy aims to enhance the management of LTCs in primary care possibly based on a 'family doctor' model. Patients' views on this are not well documented and the aim of the present study was to explore the views of patients with LTCs on family doctors in Hong Kong. Methods. The views of patients (with a variety of LTCs) on family doctors in Hong Kong were explored. Two groups of participants were interviewed; a) those who considered themselves as having a family doctor, b) those who considered themselves as not having a family doctor (either with a regular primary care doctor but not a family doctor or with no regular primary care doctor). In-depth individual semi-structured interviews were carried out with 28 participants (10 with a family doctor, 10 with a regular doctor, and 8 with no regular doctor) and analysed using the constant comparative method. Results. Participants who did not have a family doctor were familiar with the concept but regarded it as a 'luxury item' for the rich within the private healthcare system. Those with a regular family doctor (all private) regarded having one as important to their and their family's health. Participants in both groups felt that as well as the more usual family medicine specialist or general practitioner, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners also had the potential to be family doctors. However most participants attended the public healthcare system for management of their LTCs whether they had a family doctor or not. Cost, perceived need, quality, trust, and choice were all barriers to the use of family doctors for the management of their LTCs. Conclusions. Important barriers to the adoption of a 'family doctor' model of management of LTCs exist in Hong Kong. Effective policy implementation seems unlikely unless these complex barriers are addressed. © 2010 Mercer et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/124906
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 3.2
2020 SCImago Journal Rankings: 1.078
PubMed Central ID
ISI Accession Number ID
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Food and Health Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong SARSHS-P-02
Funding Information:

This project was supported by the Health Services Research Fund (project ref no SHS-P-02) of the Food and Health Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR. Stewart Mercer carried out this work as Visiting Professor in Primary care, at the School of Public Health, Chinese University of Hong Kong. We would like to thank all who participated in and contributed to this study. Academic contributors to the study included Professor Albert Lee, Department of Community & Family Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Professor William Wong, Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Australia Professor David R. Phillips, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, Professor Roger H. Jones, United Medical and Dental School, (Guy's and St Thomas), London Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, United Kingdom

References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorMercer, SWen_HK
dc.contributor.authorSiu, JYen_HK
dc.contributor.authorHillier, SMen_HK
dc.contributor.authorLam, CLen_HK
dc.contributor.authorLo, YYen_HK
dc.contributor.authorLam, TPen_HK
dc.contributor.authorGriffiths, SMen_HK
dc.date.accessioned2010-10-31T11:00:47Z-
dc.date.available2010-10-31T11:00:47Z-
dc.date.issued2010en_HK
dc.identifier.citationBMC Family Practice, 2010, v. 11, article no. 46en_HK
dc.identifier.issn1471-2296en_HK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/124906-
dc.description.abstractBackground. Primary care based management of long-term conditions (LTCs) is high on the international healthcare agenda, including the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong has a 'mixed economy' healthcare system with both public and private sectors with a range of types of primary care doctors. Recent Hong Kong Government policy aims to enhance the management of LTCs in primary care possibly based on a 'family doctor' model. Patients' views on this are not well documented and the aim of the present study was to explore the views of patients with LTCs on family doctors in Hong Kong. Methods. The views of patients (with a variety of LTCs) on family doctors in Hong Kong were explored. Two groups of participants were interviewed; a) those who considered themselves as having a family doctor, b) those who considered themselves as not having a family doctor (either with a regular primary care doctor but not a family doctor or with no regular primary care doctor). In-depth individual semi-structured interviews were carried out with 28 participants (10 with a family doctor, 10 with a regular doctor, and 8 with no regular doctor) and analysed using the constant comparative method. Results. Participants who did not have a family doctor were familiar with the concept but regarded it as a 'luxury item' for the rich within the private healthcare system. Those with a regular family doctor (all private) regarded having one as important to their and their family's health. Participants in both groups felt that as well as the more usual family medicine specialist or general practitioner, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners also had the potential to be family doctors. However most participants attended the public healthcare system for management of their LTCs whether they had a family doctor or not. Cost, perceived need, quality, trust, and choice were all barriers to the use of family doctors for the management of their LTCs. Conclusions. Important barriers to the adoption of a 'family doctor' model of management of LTCs exist in Hong Kong. Effective policy implementation seems unlikely unless these complex barriers are addressed. © 2010 Mercer et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_HK
dc.languageengen_HK
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltd. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcfampract/en_HK
dc.relation.ispartofBMC Family Practiceen_HK
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.rightsBMC Family Practice. Copyright © BioMed Central Ltd.-
dc.subjectMedical sciences-
dc.titleA qualitative study of the views of patients with long-term conditions on family doctors in Hong Kongen_HK
dc.typeArticleen_HK
dc.identifier.openurlhttp://library.hku.hk:4550/resserv?sid=HKU:IR&issn=1471-2296&volume=11&issue=46&spage=&epage=&date=2010&atitle=A+qualitative+study+of+the+views+of+patients+with+long-term+conditions+on+family+doctors+in+Hong+Kong-
dc.identifier.emailLam, CL:clklam@hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.emailLo, YY:yve_lo@yahoo.com.hken_HK
dc.identifier.emailLam, TP:tplam@hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.authorityLam, CL=rp00350en_HK
dc.identifier.authorityLo, YY=rp00512en_HK
dc.identifier.authorityLam, TP=rp00386en_HK
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/1471-2296-11-46en_HK
dc.identifier.pmid20525340-
dc.identifier.pmcidPMC2889885-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-77952992129en_HK
dc.identifier.hkuros171616en_HK
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-77952992129&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_HK
dc.identifier.volume11en_HK
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. 46-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. 46-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000279852900001-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdomen_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridMercer, SW=7005913632en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridSiu, JY=36133944800en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridHillier, SM=7102577673en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridLam, CL=24755913900en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridLo, YY=16022308000en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridLam, TP=55232643600en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridGriffiths, SM=35233240400en_HK
dc.identifier.citeulike7385013-
dc.identifier.issnl1471-2296-

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