Expansion of the Survey of Health Care Needs in the HHHS Service Area Report

Expansion of the Survey of Health Care Needs in the HHHS Service Area Report

Alexander, Meredith; Yeo, Lai Jeet

Haliburton Highlands Health Services
Host contact: Hardy, Janice

Ayre, Joan
Department: Nursing

TP-482

2005

U-Links Office and online

Haliburton County

Healthcare needs survey expansion

Report of a survey conducted for Haliburton Highlands Health Services regarding health issues and needs in the area. Continuing evaluation of HHHS and health care needs in the Haliburton Highlands. Expands on TP-393.

Life and health care are influenced by living in a rural community. The community is an important source of information about what services are needed and what existing services need improvement. The current study posed 12 questions, covering general demographic information, the availability of family physicians, the role of the nurse practitioner, the adequacy of present health services, and the importance of health care services in the next 5 to 10 years. 1013 telephone numbers were chosen at random from the Haliburton Highlands section of the 2004/2005 telephone book to take part in the telephone survey, resulting in 89 responses. All survey responses were translated into numeric data and the data were analyzed using SPSS software. The frequency counts and percentages were calculated and arranged from the most adequate or important health care needs to the least adequate or 3 important. In addition, Chi-Square analyses were used to determine the gender and age differences in health care needs.

The percentage of all participants who felt a particular health services was adequate ranged from a high of 80.4% for emergency services such as emergency room, 911, and EMS (ranked #1) to a low of 19.3% for family physician (ranked #16). The percentage of all participants who indicated a particular health services as an important health service ranged from a high of 96.6 % for emergency services such as emergency room, 911, and EMS (ranked #1) to a low of 21.6 % for services for substance abuse (ranked #16). The three most important services for the future in Haliburton County were identified as emergency services, family physicians, and dental care services. While both emergency services and dental care services were ranked high in adequacy and importance, family physicians were ranked high in importance and low in adequacy. This suggests that the recruitment and retention of family physicians and/or nurse practitioners should be a high priority.

Trent University