Matching Items (2)
Description
The purpose of this study is to explore the possible factors that influence how patients rate their dentists in the underserved communities and how commonly each factors are mentioned in the articles found from the systematic review. PubMed was used to search the articles with the keywords categorized into 5 different groups, they were: dental/oral, underserved, patient satisfaction, services provided and America. The search resulted in 123 articles and after critical appraisal and review, 19 full text articles were determined to be fully relevant to this project. A table of summarized results from the articles was created and factors of satisfaction from the articles were translated into a category which then was categorize into broader category based on relatedness. Sub-categories that were mentioned at least five times in the articles were cost, insurance acceptance, communication, interpersonal skills, number of treatments, fear/worry/anxiety and pain. According to the findings, quality in terms of interaction and interpersonal relationship between patients and the dentists was most mentioned compared to other factors when it comes to patient satisfaction. Other factors mentioned were external factors, pain, continuity, access, cost, technical qualities, efficiency, convenience, availability and environment. The purpose of this study has been met. The results in this project suggest that dentists in underserved communities could focus on changing the way they deliver their service if they want to improve patient retention and satisfaction.
ContributorsHnin, Ma Myat Thida (Author) / McCullough, Mac (Thesis director) / Riley, William (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Over-prescription of opioid medications for chronic pain has been a major driver of the opioid abuse epidemic. Arizona has an opioid prescription rate of 50.7/100 persons annually, which is about the average US rate of 51.4/100 persons. Novel approaches to treat chronic pain and reduce opioid overuse are promptly needed. Using analysis of Medicaid prescribing data from across Arizona, Mountain Park Health Center was identified to have the lowest opioid prescribing rates among all Community Health Centers (CHC) in Arizona (14.2/100 persons) using analysis of Medicaid prescribing data from across Arizona. A healthy work culture of patient engagement, behavioral health integration into primary care (BHI), and active case management of SDoH issues were critical to successful opioid prescribing and management. In order to account for the complex systemic contributors towards opioid over-prescription, the underlying theoretical framework, positive deviance (PD), was used to uncover effective practices for notably low opioid prescribing. Focus groups of interdisciplinary provider teams (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and behavioral health) were structured around the PD inquiry approach. Participants were asked about practice and culture factors that might foster or enable low-prescribing practices. Focus group interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Six critical themes were identified after extensive qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts: medication management; non-opioid pain management; service integration; preventive strategies; patient and family engagement; underlying factors (including medical/behavior comorbidity and socioeconomic factors). These findings illustrate that this CHC system has a culture which values a high level of care integration, internal systems, and community partnerships to address patient social determinants of health, and patient engagement and provider norms to provide alternatives to opioid prescription. Behavioral health integration into the care team is another key aspect of the culture. Our findings, if confirmed in other settings, could be useful in planning organizational interventions and training. We anticipate that efforts to implement and spread these approaches may be effective in decreasing opioid overuse, promoting health equity by targeting CHCs with room for improvement, and informing the larger research goals: to inform practice change and opioid prescribing across Arizona CHCs.
ContributorsCheng, Esther (Author) / Doebbeling, Bradley (Thesis director) / Daniulaityte, Raminta (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05