title: Characterizing Key Components of a Medical Home Among Rural Adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adolescents in rural areas have higher unmet medical needs and receive fewer preventive health care visits than their urban counterparts. This community health assessment aimed to describe adolescent experiences of key components of a medical home in rural Washington.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey using questions from two validated measures was created with input from a community advisory group using community-based participatory research principles. The survey was administered to a convenience sample of high-school students in one rural town. Responses within each medical home domain were grouped to create composite scores. Linear and logistic regression analyses identified characteristics associated with receiving medical home services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 217 adolescents aged 13-19 years completed the survey. Eighty-five percent identified as Latino/Hispanic. Respondents described usually or always feeling listened to by providers (80%), respected by providers (89%), and welcomed at their clinic (79%). Fewer reported having a personal health provider (56%), meeting alone with a provider (56%), or knowing the visit was confidential (60%). Those who identified having a primary provider had 2.48 greater odds (95% confidence interval = 1.13-5.45) of reporting a well visit in the previous year and had higher composite scores for compassionate and patient-centered care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This sample of rural adolescents reported receiving many characteristics of a medical home but had limited experience with personal providers and confidential services. Improving adolescent access to confidential care may be especially important in small, rural communities. The association of a primary provider with improved medical home experience highlights this key characteristic in an adolescent medical home.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Sarah K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Andrea J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hoopes
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Benkeser
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, Toppenish, Washington.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grigg
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Electronic address: mollie.grow@seattlechildrens.org.
authors.forename: H Mollie
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Grow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000379:methods*; D003219:Confidentiality; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D019035:Rural Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014861:Washington; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescent health services; Confidentiality; Medical home; Patient-centered care; Rural health services