A Step towards Understanding and Tackling Health Inequalities: The Use of Secondary Prevention Services and the Need for Health Promotion in a Rural Setting

Monika Karasiewicz, Ewelina Chawłowska, Agnieszka Lipiak and Barbara Więckowska
Additional contact information
Monika Karasiewicz: Department of Preventive Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Poznan, Poland
Ewelina Chawłowska: Department of Preventive Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Poznan, Poland
Agnieszka Lipiak: Department of Preventive Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Poznan, Poland
Barbara Więckowska: Department of Computer Science and Statistics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-806 Poznan, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: Poland has recently intensified its health promotion in an effort to extend healthy life expectancy and reduce health inequalities. Our aim was to reach a deprived rural population, increase its health literacy, and explore its use of and barriers to cancer screening and public health care. A CBPR study was conducted in one of the poorest districts in Wielkopolska region, Poland, among 122 beneficiaries of health education workshops. A self-developed questionnaire was used. The reported barriers to participation in cancer screening included: lack of time, lack of need, or feeling healthy (32.8%); long waiting times (17.2%); fear of costs (9%). Physicians seldom recommended screening to their patients. Only 7.4% of respondents had ever received dermatoscopy. Among women, 18.2% did not perform any breast exams and 25% had never had smear tests. Diagnostics was often financed out of pocket (thyroid ultrasound = 58.1%; smear test = 48.5%; breast ultrasound = 36.8%). The health system needs mentioned by participants included better access to physicians (65.6%), promotion of free screening tests (54.9%), and access to public health programmes (22.1%). There is an urgent need to translate national strategies into action. Health promotion and better access to care must become priorities in deprived areas, while primary care providers should become key figures in delivering these services.

Keywords: health promotion; healthcare disparities; health inequalities; rural health services; general practice; cancer screening; diagnostic tests; out-of-pocket payments; health literacy; farmers; community-based participatory research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8492/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8492/ (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:18:y:2021:i:16:p:8492-:d:612491

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 ().