School of Medicine and Psychology, College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Population Health Exchange (PHXchange), National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Aust J Rural Health. 2023 Oct;31(5):805-825. doi: 10.1111/ajr.13016. Epub 2023 Jul 19.
Although various studies have examined availability, access barriers and patient experiences of rural health services for the ageing population, no synthesis of this literature exists in Australia.
The objective of this study was to examine the current literature surrounding rural service provision and to evaluate the barriers to access for older individuals and to recognise gaps in the literature.
A systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed literature from three online databases (PUBMED, SCOPUS and Web of Science).
Thirty-two papers were included in analysis. The most prominent types of health service discussed were residential aged care (n = 12) and community health care (n = 10). More studies explored the perspectives of health personnel than the service end users. Qualitative synthesis revealed three themes associated with health service and rural ageing: access to services, health workforce experiences and end user experiences.
Access to health services for the elderly population is a complex issue. Promoting positive experiences for both health providers and patients is critical to assisting in healthy ageing for people living in rural and remote areas. This requires intervention on a social and institutional level. Key research gaps in the literature include the effectiveness of an integrated approach to institutional interventions, utilisation of preventative measures such as screening programs for cancer and greater identification of the health needs and perceptions among culturally diverse elderly residents. These studies are critical to promote appropriate and patient-centred care for elderly populations in rural and remote areas.
The review highlights the need to address availability, retention and service innovations across health services to improve access to care and health outcomes of rural elderly residents.
尽管已有多项研究探讨了农村地区老龄化人口的医疗服务的可及性、获取障碍和患者体验，但澳大利亚尚未对此类文献进行综合分析。
本研究旨在对现有的农村服务提供文献进行综述，评估老年人获取服务的障碍，并发现文献中的空白。
对三个在线数据库（PUBMED、SCOPUS 和 Web of Science）中的同行评议文献进行系统的范围界定综述。
32 篇论文被纳入分析。讨论最多的卫生服务类型是养老院（n=12）和社区卫生保健（n=10）。与服务最终用户相比，更多的研究探讨了卫生人员的观点。定性综合分析揭示了与卫生服务和农村老龄化相关的三个主题：服务获取、卫生劳动力的经验和最终用户的经验。
老年人获取卫生服务是一个复杂的问题。促进卫生服务提供者和患者的积极体验对于帮助生活在农村和偏远地区的人们实现健康老龄化至关重要。这需要在社会和制度层面进行干预。文献中的主要研究空白包括综合机构干预措施的有效性、利用癌症筛查等预防措施以及更好地确定文化多样化的老年居民的健康需求和认知。这些研究对于促进农村和偏远地区老年人口的适当和以患者为中心的护理至关重要。
综述强调需要解决卫生服务的可及性、保留和服务创新问题，以改善农村老年居民的护理获取和健康结果。
