McKinnon Symone A, Holloway Breanna M, Santoro Maya S, May April C, Cronan Terry A
San Diego State University, Department of Psychology.
San Diego State University, Department of Psychology; University of California, San Diego (UCSD) /San Diego State University (SDSU), Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.
Calif J Health Promot. 2016;14(3):45-57.
The projected increase in chronically ill older adults may overburden the healthcare system and compromise the receipt of quality and coordinated health care services. Healthcare advocates (HCAs) may help to alleviate the burden associated with seeking and receiving appropriate health care. We examined whether having dementia or depression, along with hypertension and arthritis, or having no comorbid medical conditions, and being an older adult, affected the perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA to navigate the health care system.
Participants (N = 1,134), age 18 or older, read a vignette and imagined themselves as an older adult with either a mood or cognitive disorder, and comorbid medical conditions or as otherwise being physically healthy. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA.
Participants who imagined themselves as having dementia reported a greater likelihood of hiring an HCA than participants who imagined themselves as having depression (p < .001).
It is imperative that health care professionals attend to the growing and ongoing needs of older adults living with chronic conditions, and HCAs could play an important role in meeting those needs.
慢性病老年患者预计会增加，这可能给医疗保健系统带来过重负担，并影响优质且协调的医疗服务的获得。医疗保健倡导者（HCA）可能有助于减轻寻求和接受适当医疗保健相关的负担。我们研究了患有痴呆症或抑郁症，同时患有高血压和关节炎，或者没有合并症，以及作为老年人，是否会影响雇佣HCA来应对医疗保健系统的感知可能性。
18岁及以上的参与者（N = 1134）阅读了一个 vignette，并想象自己是患有情绪或认知障碍以及合并症的老年人，或者身体健康的老年人。然后要求他们完成一份问卷，评估他们雇佣HCA的感知可能性。
想象自己患有痴呆症的参与者报告称，比想象自己患有抑郁症的参与者更有可能雇佣HCA（p < .001）。
医疗保健专业人员必须关注慢性病老年患者不断增长的持续需求，而HCA在满足这些需求方面可以发挥重要作用。
