Welche Strategien können Sie anwenden, um Barrieren im Gesundheitswesen zu überwinden?

Understanding the barriers are of utmost importance. At time, we get the uncomfortable feeling but fail to understand the cause. It can be addressed by - Empathetic learning - Setting healthy and respectful boundaries - Being mindful to need of mind, body and soul. And, of course these all comes with a lot of discipline, training and positive self talk.

Employees in the field of patient care do not understand their role sufficiently. They care only about their own rights and privileges and forget that it is patients who ensures their employment and future. It's an attitude of I am in charge! My rights are the most important, never mind the rights of patients... It is after all patients that pays their salaries. There are obviously those that see this as their duty and they will take care of their patients with passion and pride! I salute those workers for all their efforts 👌 and kind service to sick, frail and or poor people!

Staff attitude and mistreatment of patients is a silent barrier. While patients don't always understand their rights, they are often subjected to verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse by those who are supposed to care for them. It is a big problem in the public hospitals or clinics, especially in developing countries where many patients, for the first time, have access to healthcare and modern medicine. This also brings some trust issues if they fail to understand how they can seek help. Raising awareness and involving the communities (especially leaders) is essential to better define and overcome barriers.

Working with patients who are ineligible for insurance (“undocumented”), we keep drug costs in mind and have programs available for them to get reduced cost meds. We also will contact the physician, if they send in a high cost drug that the patient would never be able to afford, to consider a less expensive alternative. I don’t feel it should ever be that a patient pays “a car payment” just to stay alive.

Absolutely agree! Improving access to healthcare is essential for enhancing patient outcomes and overall community health. Extending clinic hours is challenging in our environment but offering telehealth services is a fantastic step towards making healthcare more accessible. Additionally, adequate resources (equipment and human) can make a significant difference for patients to reduce waiting and consultation times.

In my area of Florida, many of my patients are Spanish speaking only. Being mindful of this and meeting them on their level (not vice versa) is important in building rapport. I almost always have Spanish speaking support staff and if they aren’t available the translation apps on my phone plus my weak Spanish skills will work in a pinch. I also have a medical English-Spanish dictionary at the ready…

Cultural sensitivity is crucial. We have so many different cultures in South Africa (we have 11 official languages which gives an indication of the amount of cultures we deal with) and once off training is not nearly enough. But the basics of cultural competence is understanding respectful behaviour. You can almost never go wrong by just treating all patients equally and with dignity and respect. Sadly, this does not come naturally for all people and training is necessary to remind them of ethical and professional conduct. Include this in performance management reviews.