title: 'Once I became a pensioner I became a nobody - a non entity': the story of one woman's experience of the health care system.
abstract: This article highlights one socially isolated older person's experiences of ageing in a large metropolitan Australian location and the problems she encounters in attempting to access appropriate and timely health care. As society moves into a phase of rapid demographic ageing, this personal account provides health professionals with an in-depth insight into what it can be like to live in social isolation as one ages and needs ever increasing health care. Win is part of a larger study investigating difficulties encountered by socially isolated older people in accessing health care needs, and preferred her real name to be used for this article. All other names used are fictitious to preserve anonymity.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Moira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Greaves
authors.forename: Cath
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rogers-Clark
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011287:Prejudice; D011793:Queensland; D012934:Social Isolation; D014850:Waiting Lists