Percepción y expectativas del paciente mayor en la atención especializada

Abstract

Objective: To find out and analyse the opinion of elderly users on the care received in specialised medicine when they are referred from a primary care centre.

Material and method: Qualitative study from March to September 2006 in the Finca España-La Laguna Basic Health Area, Tenerife (Spain). The participants: users older than 65 years who had visited the referred specialised care centre more than once. The data was collected from 3 group interviews, 6 individual interviews and participant observation. They were recorded on a digital tape recorder and transcribed.

Results: Perceptions and expectations centre on: long waiting times, difficult accessibility due to the lack of parking space and information points, health system in which they do not feel represented, lack of professionals and lack of information and interest due to the saturation of surgeries.

Conclusions: Their perceptions are determined by their age, emphasizing information on the part of the professionals. Our results indicate areas to improve quality of care with the user as main source (more parking space, information points and mechanisms for their participation).