Unmet health care needs of people with disabilities: population level evidence

Abstract

The present study examined population level data on unmet needs for adults with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, using the National Population Health Survey. The study revealed that disabled adults (aged 20-64) reported more than three times as many unmet health care needs as their non-disabled counterparts. Even after controlling for the effects of age, gender and poor health, disability had a significant effect on the perception of unmet needs, particularly disabilities associated with pain, hearing impairment and emotional problems. The greatest deterrent to receiving needed services among individuals with disabilities was cost. Despite being publicly funded and thereby presumably equally accessible to all, the health care system in Canada fails to meet the needs of some of its most vulnerable constituents -adults with disabilities.

Disability and HIV in Africa: Breaking the barriers to sexual health care

“…Such barriers have been found in more resourced countries, such as Northern Ireland (Anderson and Kitchen, 2000) and Canada (McColl et al, 2010). But, in the context of greater levels of relative poverty, under-resourced public health care systems, and increased levels of risk for HIV, such barriers can be considered the sort of "structural violence" that Farmer (2004) refers to in relation to health; that is the oppressive barriers and forces that are built into the political, economic and environmental structures in which health is embedded.…”

The Role of Perceived Helpfulness in Predicting Subjective Unmet Need and the Frequency of Health Care Use

“…Somewhat surprisingly, these recent studies show consistently that health care users more often perceive an unmet need than do non-users, even after health status is controlled for (Colman, Symoens, & Bracke, 2012;Kjeken et al, 2006;McColl & Jarzynowska, 2010). The question has now emerged of how these elevated levels of unmet need among health care users can be explained.…”

Unmet health care needs among sex workers in five census metropolitan areas of Canada

“…Unmet health care needs are also more pronounced among people with low income; the homeless and vulnerably housed; sexual minorities; women; people with one or more mental disorders, substance dependence or co-occurring disorders; and adults with disabilities. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The reasons people give for not accessing needed health care range from the cost and organization of health services to personal concerns and perceptions. 11 The most commonly reported barriers as worded in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 1.1 are 1) "waiting time too long", 2) "service not available when needed", 3) "too busy", 4) "didn't get around to it/didn't bother", 5) "felt would be inadequate" and 6) "cost".…”