Barriers Patients Experience
The primary care office does not encourage doctors to spend a lot of time talking with patients about their health concerns or to explain confusing medical terms and concepts. My participants found they experienced obstacles gaining or understanding healthcare information from their doctor. They also found that their own emotions created a barrier to talking openly with their doctor, and feeling dissatisfied was an obstacle.
OBSTACLES TO HEALTHCARE INFORMATION
My participants commonly noted that their doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals do not give them enough information about health issues and concerns. They felt this did not encourage open communication in their relationship.
Ashley
Ashley had a hard time understanding the medical terms her doctor uses with her. She compared this struggle to her tangled headphones to show that the way her doctor talks to her about health information is hard to understand.
PATIENT EMOTIONS
Most of my participants confirmed that primary care can be intimidating to patients who are new to it. They described how the new and unknown parts of switching to primary care made my participants feel fear, anxiety, confusion, and frustration at the process.
DISSATISFACTION WITH CARE
The participants who were dissatisfied with their primary care doctor felt their communication with their doctor was not effective or efficient.
Ashley
Ashley was frustrated with how little time her doctor spent in the exam room with her, which left limited time for her to ask any questions.
