Barriers and Enablers of Health Service Utilisation for Childhood Skin Infections in Remote Aboriginal Communities of Western Australia

David Hendrickx, Ingrid Amgarth-Duff, Asha C Bowen, Jonathan R Carapetis, Robby Chibawe, Margaret Samson and Roz Walker
Additional contact information
David Hendrickx: Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Ingrid Amgarth-Duff: IMPACCT (Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation), University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Asha C Bowen: Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Jonathan R Carapetis: Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Robby Chibawe: Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Service Unit 5, 15, Iron Ore Parade, Newman, WA 6753, Australia
Margaret Samson: Jigalong Community Council, Pmb 8, Newman, WA 6753, Australia
Roz Walker: Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: In Australia, children living in remote Aboriginal communities experience high rates of skin infections and associated complications. Prompt presentation to primary care health services is crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. We performed a qualitative study in four remote Aboriginal communities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to explore factors that affected health service utilisation for childhood skin infections in this setting. The study consisted of semistructured interviews and focus group discussions with parents and carers ( n = 16), healthcare practitioners ( n = 15) and other community service providers ( n = 25). We used Andersen’s health service utilisation model as an analytical framework. Our analysis captured a wide range of barriers that may undermine timely use of health services for childhood skin infections. These included general factors that illustrate the importance of cultural competency amongst healthcare providers, patient-centred care and community engagement. Relating specifically to health service utilisation for childhood skin infections, we identified their apparent normalisation and the common use of painful benzathine penicillin G injections for their treatment as important barriers. Health service utilisation in this setting may be enhanced by improving general awareness of the significance of childhood skin infections, actively engaging parents and carers in consultation and treatment processes and strengthening community involvement in health service activities.

Keywords: Aboriginal health; remote health; skin infections; skin sores; health service utilisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/808/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/808/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:808-:d:313847

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().