title: A single source of health care: does it affect health experiences for inner-city children?
abstract: This study was designed to determine whether having a single source of health care affects the health experiences of inner-city children. Seventy-five women were interviewed about the health experiences of their preschool-aged children (range 10-58 months) and were asked about utilization, emergency room use, preventive care, delays in care, and availability of a provider for the child's various medical needs. While most (94.7 percent) of the mothers identified a regular source of care for their child's preventive care, 74.7 percent named the same source for their child's sick care. There were no differences in most measures between mothers with a single source of care and those with multiple sources. However, those with a single source of care reported feeling their providers were more available (p < 0.05). Thus, naming a single source of health care may not be a useful indicator of better health experiences for inner-city children.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Beal
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009519:New York City; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D014505:Urban Population; D044465:White People