Giving voice to all patients: On patients at the margins and their intention and perceived ability to complain

We examined the extent to which patients’ social (being elderly or poorly educated), physical (having a permanent impairment such as deafness, blindness, or a chronic physical condition), and mental marginality (having a mental illness or learning disability) is associated with their intention and perceived ability to complain. Methodology: We matched survey and patient record data for hospital inpatients treated in the English National Health Service in 2007. We then computed two-stage probit selection models to estimate the cross-sectional association between patients’ social, physical, and mental marginality and their intention (Stage 1, N1 = 58,062) and perceived ability to complain (Stage 2, N2 = 3,765). Findings: Only 6.47% of all patients intended to complain. Of these, only 10.41% indicated that hospital staff provided them with all the information they needed to complain. An additional 14.70% reported to have received at least some of the information needed for this purpose. Patients above 80 not only exhibited significantly lower intentions to complain than their mid-aged counterparts (−1.16%) but also felt considerably less well informed to file a complaint (−5.45%). Similarly, patients suffering from blindness or a severe vision impairment showed a significantly lower perceived ability to complain (−5.20%). Practice Implications: Patients at the margins, especially elderly patients and those with a severe vision impairment, will often remain sil...
Source: Health Care Management Review - Category: American Health Tags: Features Source Type: research