Persevering: the experience of well elderly women overcoming the barriers to the U.S. health care system.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the barriers to health care for well older community living women living in a metropolitan area in North Central Texas.


METHODS
Qualitative thematic design. Forty-six women who attended seniors' centers in North Central Texas participated in focus groups. Then three individual and a key informant interviews were completed. Data were analyzed using Lubrosky's thematic analysis.


RESULTS
The participants described barriers to access associated with provider barriers of devaluing older adults, the complexity and slowness of reimbursement, inadequacy of health insurance plans and physicians opting out of plans. Participants overcame these barriers by persevering.
Duggleby
Wendy
W
College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E5, Canada. duggleby@sask.usask.ca
Abdullah
Badia
B
Bateman
Joan
J
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D006278:Medicare; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D013781:Texas; D014481:United States