Patient satisfaction for homeless women.
BACKGROUND
Patient satisfaction is a key quality of care indicator for which little is known for the homeless women population. We hypothesized that homeless women who last visited homeless-focused healthcare sites (shelter/outreach clinics and mobile vans) will have higher satisfaction ratings than homeless women who last visited county/government clinics. This association was also tested using the Gelberg-Andersen Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations.


METHODS
Data were gathered on 974 homeless women aged 15-44 in a probability cluster sample of 60 shelters and 18 meal programs in Los Angeles County. The homeless women participated in 45-minute interviews.


RESULTS
Our hypothesis was partially supported, as shelter and outreach clinics were positively and significantly associated with greater quality satisfaction (beta = 10.2, p < 0.001). Healthcare at private doctors' offices was also associated with quality, access, and appointment satisfaction when compared with care received at county/government clinics (beta = 15.9, p < 0.001; beta = 8.6, p < 0.05; beta = 16.3, p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Policymakers should encourage healthcare sites that serve homeless women to improve their care by learning from shelter/outreach clinics and private doctors.
Swanson
Karen A
KA
Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA. kswanphd@earthlink.net
Andersen
Ronald
R
Gelberg
Lillian
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015141:Los Angeles; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010824:Physicians' Offices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data