Poverty proofing healthcare: a qualitative study of barriers to accessing healthcare for low-income families with children in northern England

Bidmead, Elaine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0166-4506 , Hayes, Louise, Mazzoli-Smith, Laura, Wildman, Josephine, Rankin, Judith, Leggott, Emma, Todd, Liz and Bramhall, Luke (2024) Poverty proofing healthcare: a qualitative study of barriers to accessing healthcare for low-income families with children in northern England. PLoS ONE, 19 (4). e0292983.

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Abstract

Poverty impacts negatively on children's health and future life chances. Access to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is based on clinical need rather than the ability to pay but horizontal inequities in access exist. Children North East, a charity supporting children experiencing poverty, are working with partners to reduce the impacts of poverty on NHS access. This collaborative study aimed to understand barriers to healthcare access faced by families living on low incomes to validate and support further development of a Poverty Proofing© healthcare tool. Twenty-four parents and eight Voluntary Community Social Enterprise sector staff participated in qualitative interviews or focus groups. Data were analysed thematically, and three main themes were identified as impacting access to healthcare: hidden costs, securing appointments and developing relationships with healthcare providers. We conclude that low-income families experience both financial and other barriers to accessing NHS healthcare and that these barriers are exacerbated for low-income families living in remote/rural areas.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	PLoS ONE
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
ISSN:	1932-6203
Departments:	Institute of Health > Social Work, Children and Families Centre for Research in Health and Society (CRIHS)
Data access:	Data repository of Newcastle University
Data access URL:	https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.25290292
Additional Information:	Short title: Barriers to accessing healthcare for low-income families with children in northern England. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Depositing User:	Elaine Bidmead
Date Deposited:	03 May 2024 12:01
Last Modified:	03 May 2024 12:15
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/7660

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