Preferences for virtual versus in-person mental and physical healthcare in Canada: a descriptive study from a cohort of youth and their parents enriched for severe mental illness

Autor: Lucy Chen, Ross Langley, Rudolf Uher, Raegan Mazurka, Emily Howes Vallis, Kathryn Freeman, Briana Ross, Swasti Arora, Mica Kahn, Cynthia Howard, Dara Liu, Jill Cumby, Maureen L Brennan, Samuel E Hickcox, Alexa L Bagnell, Lukas Propper, Barbara Pavlova
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: BMJ Paediatrics Open, Vol 8, Iss 1 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2399-9772
DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2023-002197
Popis: Background Virtual care may improve access to healthcare and may be well suited to digitally connected youth, but experts caution that privacy and technology barriers could perpetuate access inequities. Success of virtual care will depend on its alignment with patient preferences. However, information on preferences for virtual and in-person healthcare is missing, especially for youth. We sought to quantify preferences for and barriers to virtual versus in-person mental and physical healthcare in youth and their parents, including in vulnerable segments of the population such as families with a parent with severe mental illness (SMI).Methods Participants were 219 youth and 326 parents from the Families Overcoming Risks and Building Opportunities for Wellbeing cohort from Canada, of which 61% of youth had at least one parent with SMI. Participants were interviewed about healthcare preferences and access to privacy/technology between October 2021 and December 2022.Results Overall, youth reported a preference for in-person mental (66.6%) and physical healthcare (74.7%) versus virtual care or no preference, and to a somewhat lesser degree, so did their parents (48.0% and 53.9%). Half of participants reported privacy/technology barriers to virtual care, with privacy being the most common barrier. Preferences and barriers varied as a function of parent SMI status, socioeconomic status and rural residence.Conclusions The majority of youth and parents in this study prefer in-person healthcare, and the preference is stronger in youth and in vulnerable segments of the population. Lack of privacy may be a greater barrier to virtual care than access to technology.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals