Bedore Christopher D, Woodend A Kirsten
Nursing Department, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Prosthet Orthot Int. 2024 Dec 1;48(6):658-664. doi: 10.1097/PXR.0000000000000297. Epub 2023 Oct 20.
Travel out of country for medical care is increasing for many reasons including costs, wait-lists, and availability of procedures. Until 2018, when the surgery was offered in only 1 province, Canadians with amputation wanting osseointegration (OI) had to travel out of country for the surgery. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experience of accessing health care in Canada after having a procedure performed out of country.
This is a phenomenological study of persons with amputation who had OI outside of Canada. The grand tour interview question was "What was it like travelling to another country for OI surgery and then returning to access follow-up care in Canada?"
There were 5 participants, and 5 themes emerged: (1) lack of support from Canadian physicians; (2) exceptional support from prosthetists and other members of the health care team; (3) continued reliance on the country where the procedure was initially performed; (4) self-advocacy for access to care; and (5) benefits of travelling outweighing the problems faced.
These themes are not unique to OI, but to medical tourism as a whole. The lack of support was countered partly by a strong sense of self-advocacy from the participants and support from other members of the health care team.
出于多种原因，包括费用、等候名单和手术可及性等，出国就医的情况日益增多。直到2018年，当时只有一个省份提供该手术，想要进行骨整合（OI）的加拿大截肢患者不得不出国进行手术。本研究的目的是了解在国外进行手术后在加拿大获得医疗保健的实际经历。
这是一项对在加拿大境外进行骨整合的截肢患者的现象学研究。开放式访谈问题是“前往另一个国家进行OI手术，然后返回加拿大接受后续护理是什么样的经历？”
有5名参与者，出现了5个主题：（1）加拿大医生缺乏支持；（2）假肢技师和医疗团队其他成员给予的特殊支持；（3）持续依赖最初进行手术的国家；（4）为获得护理进行自我倡导；（5）出国旅行的好处超过所面临的问题。
这些主题并非骨整合所特有，而是整个医疗旅游的普遍现象。参与者强烈的自我倡导意识以及医疗团队其他成员的支持在一定程度上抵消了缺乏支持的情况。
