Attitudes of general practitioners and practice nurses regarding older person health assessments
Sai Ram Ramisetty A , Angelo D’Amore A B and Eleanor K. L. Mitchell A CA School of Rural Health, Monash University, Bairnsdale, Vic. 3875, Australia.
B Eastern Victoria General Practice Training, Churchill, Vic. 3842, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: Eleanor.Mitchell@monash.edu
Australian Journal of Primary Health 27(3) 215-220 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY20262
Submitted: 6 November 2020 Accepted: 12 December 2020 Published: 1 April 2021
Abstract
Health assessments (HAs) are available for community-dwelling older people to receive annually from general practitioners (GPs), but have low uptake. Little is known regarding the views of GPs and practice nurses (PNs) towards older person HAs and whether this might contribute to the low uptake. The objective of this study was to explore the attitudes of GPs and PNs towards older person HAs. Fifty-eight participant responses to an online questionnaire were analysed through descriptive statistics and content analysis. Most participants (77%) found older person HAs to be useful. Participants felt HAs identified health problems that may otherwise be missed (n = 21). The main barriers to delivery of HAs were patient refusal (n = 25) and insufficient practitioner time (n = 19). The most requested change to HAs was increased patient education and public awareness regarding older person HAs (n = 10). Health professionals felt increased patient education and public awareness, particularly to address patient misconceptions regarding older person HAs, may improve HA uptake.
Keywords: ageing, general practice, health assessments, primary health.
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