title: Trust, negotiation, and communication: young adults' experiences of primary care services.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Young adulthood is an important transitional period during which there is a higher risk of individuals engaging in behaviours which could have a lasting impact on their health. Research has shown that young adults are the lowest responders to surveys about healthcare experiences and are also the least satisfied with the care they receive. However, the factors contributing to this reduced satisfaction are not clear. The focus of our research was to explore the needs and experiences of young adults around healthcare services with an aim of finding out possible reasons for lower satisfaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty young adults were interviewed at GP surgeries and at a local young adult advice agency, exploring their experiences and use of primary care services. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The use of primary care services varied amongst the young adult interviewees. Many interviewees reported positive experiences; those who did not linked their negative experiences to difficulties in negotiating their care with the health care system, and reported issues with trust, and communication difficulties. Most of the interviewees were unaware of the use of patient surveys to inform healthcare planning and delivery and were not inclined to take part, mainly because of the length of surveys and lack of interest in the topic area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In order to effectively address the health needs of young adults, young adults need to be educated about their rights as patients, and how to most efficiently use primary care services. GPs should be alert to effective means of approaching and handling the healthcare needs of young adults. A flexible, varied approach is needed to gathering high quality data from this group in order to provide services with information on the changes necessary for making primary care services more accessible for young adults.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Research Group, University of Exeter Medical School, St Lukes Campus, Smeall Building, Magdalen Road, Exeter EX1 2 LU, UK. antoinette.davey@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: Anthea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asprey
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017008:Negotiating; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D035502:Trust; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult