A Latent Content Analysis of Barriers and Supports to Healthcare: Perspectives From Caregivers of Service Members and Veterans With Military-Related Traumatic Brain Injury.
Noelle E Carlozzi, Rael T Lange, Louis M French and 3 others
PMID 29385014WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers described barriers as the most frequent topic about accessing services.
They reported delayed appointments, documentation problems, financial strain, and navigation difficulties, but also valued stipends, care coordinators, counseling, and community groups.
Key findings
01Barriers to obtaining services were the most frequent topic of discussion, accounting for 66% of service-related discussion, while supports accounted for 34%.
02Caregivers reported barriers to service members' healthcare including delayed appointments, poor care quality, financial burden, paperwork, and difficulty navigating VA or DoD systems.
03Caregivers identified supports for their own healthcare, including stipends, care coordination, support groups, health insurance, and counseling.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Medical documentation of TBI was not available for 20% of the sample. The findings are based on caregiver reports and were not checked against objective healthcare utilization or benefit records. The focus groups did not separate the effects of pain, posttraumatic stress, mood changes, and other conditions on access to services. The analysis counted how often topics were discussed rather than interpreting deeper meaning, so it cannot show why a barrier occurred or how severe it was. The sample was recruited from named military, university, and community sources, and the authors noted that parent, child, male, and older caregivers need more research before the findings can be generalized to them. The caregivers described both barriers and supports, so the study does not show that the military healthcare system failed or succeeded overall.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the 66% and 34% figures as measured rates of access problems or successful supports. They are the share of discussion topics in caregiver focus groups.