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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Older patients request more information
— a survey of use of written patient education materials in general practice | | Author(s) | Kryss T McKenna, Leigh R Tooth, David B King |
| Journal title | Australasian Journal on Ageing, vol 22.1, March 2003 |
| Pages | pp 15-19 |
| Keywords | Patients ; Information needs ; General practice ; Publications ; Social surveys ; Australia. |
| Annotation | Australian general practitioners (GPs) estimate that they distribute fewer written materials to older patients than to younger ones, while older patients want more information from their GPs than they can get. This was the main finding from a survey in Brisbane of 50 GPs and 188 older people living in the community (aged 64+). Some GPs believed that older patients preferred verbal information and gave out written information only when they perceived patient interest. All GPs reported giving written information at the time of consultation, and more than two-thirds discussed the content with patients. Just over 50% of patients reported receiving written information from GPs in the previous 6 months, and only half of these again discussed it directly with their GP. Overall, patients were more positive than GPs about the value of written educational materials. Older patients' desire for written information may be better met if they were more assertive in requesting this of their GPs; and GPs' may better serve their patients if they make written information more readily available to them. Better access to materials and more financial incentives to give them might also increase GPs' use of written materials. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-030515215 A |
| Classmark | LF: UV:IK: L5: UE: 3F: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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