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The views of rural women and health professionals on continuity of maternity care in Tasmania, Australia
This study investigates Tasmanian rural women’s and health care professionals’ experiences and views of continuity care. A mixed-method approach using a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews was adopted. Women who have had rural childbirth experiences from six Tasmanian rural communities and health professionals who are maternity care providers and are currently employed by the health system in Australia were invited to participate in the study to explore women’s experiences and views on continuity of care. The survey found that rural women who gave birth more recently are less likely to experience continuity of carers. Therefore, it aff ects their views on continuity of care and their satisfaction with antenatal care. The interviews confi rm the survey results. Three main themes emerged from the interview data, namely continuity of care; public health care system and continuity of care; and quality of care. Both health professionals and rural women believed in the benefi ts of continuity of carers as it helps women build up trust and relationship with the caregiver. Having various health professionals has been linked with inconsistency of care, impersonal care and mismanagement of information. However, the majority of health professionals and rural women believed that it was almost impossible to have continuity of a main carer in the public hospital system. Women paid more attention on the quality and consistency of care rather than carer. Health care system should take into account these
History
Publication title
Abstract BookEditors
WONCAPagination
249ISBN
978-80-86998-66-4Department/School
School of Health SciencesPublisher
WONCA 2013 Prague ConferencePlace of publication
Prague, Czech RepublicEvent title
20th WONCA World ConferenceEvent Venue
Prague, Czech RepublicDate of Event (Start Date)
2013-06-25Date of Event (End Date)
2013-06-29Repository Status
- Restricted