Burman M E, Steffes M, Weinert C
School of Nursing, University of Wyoming, Laramie 82071.
Home Health Care Serv Q. 1993;14(2-3):37-52. doi: 10.1300/j027v14n02_04.
Availability of health care services in sparsely populated areas may be limited by fewer health care organizations and geographic separation. The purposes of this study were to identify unmet needs of individuals and families managing cancer in rural areas and examine cancer-related home care in rural areas. Issues of staffing, caseloads and service area for home health agencies (HHAs) and hospices were examined. HHAs registered with the Montana Association of Home Health Care Agencies and licensed hospices in Montana were mailed questionnaires with 92% of the HHAs and 90% of the hospices returning the questionnaires. Health providers identified a variety of unmet needs including personal care and respite. Agencies were small with approximately four full-time equivalent registered nurses for HHAs and one full-time equivalent registered nurse for hospices. Similarly, caseloads were also small with an average of 50 clients per month for HHAs and 11 clients per month for hospices. HHAs and hospices had large service areas with two of the HHAs each serving seven counties. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
在人口稀少的地区，医疗保健服务的可及性可能会受到医疗机构较少和地理隔离的限制。本研究的目的是确定农村地区癌症患者及其家庭未得到满足的需求，并研究农村地区与癌症相关的家庭护理情况。研究考察了家庭健康机构（HHAs）和临终关怀机构的人员配备、工作量和服务区域等问题。向在蒙大拿州家庭健康护理机构协会注册的家庭健康机构以及蒙大拿州持牌的临终关怀机构邮寄了问卷，92%的家庭健康机构和90%的临终关怀机构返回了问卷。医疗服务提供者指出了各种未得到满足的需求，包括个人护理和临时休息护理。这些机构规模较小，家庭健康机构约有四名全职等效注册护士，临终关怀机构有一名全职等效注册护士。同样，工作量也较小，家庭健康机构平均每月有50名客户，临终关怀机构平均每月有11名客户。家庭健康机构和临终关怀机构的服务区域很大，其中两家家庭健康机构各自服务七个县。讨论了这些研究结果对研究和实践的启示。
