Mylene Lagarde and Anthony Scott
This chapter reviews the evidence on the role of physicians in shaping inequalities in access to and utilisation of healthcare. The authors examine three types of physician…
Abstract
This chapter reviews the evidence on the role of physicians in shaping inequalities in access to and utilisation of healthcare. The authors examine three types of physician decisions that can influence inequalities in access and utilisation: location decisions, decisions to work in the public and/or private sector, and decisions or behaviours in the doctor–patient encounter. For each, the authors summarise the issues and empirical evidence on possible policies to help reduce inequalities in access. Future research to reduce inequalities should focus on changes to health systems that influence physician decisions, such as health insurance expansions, the public–private mix and financial incentives, as well as physician training and policies for a more diverse physician workforce.
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Explains that current public health policy puts so much emphasis on food and nutrition because the single largest cause of death is nutrition‐related, and also because it is…
Abstract
Explains that current public health policy puts so much emphasis on food and nutrition because the single largest cause of death is nutrition‐related, and also because it is easier for a government to promote public health through nutrition than to address ailing health infrastructures or get to grips with adult literacy. Reports, however, the gaps in health equality between different socio‐economic and ethnic groups, and across gender and age. Discusses cultural expectations of a meal and the ideal body. Infers that the higher educational level a person has, the more likely they are to be thin and to occupy a higher place in a hierarchical social structure. Suggests that more food is consumed as snacks – a triumph for mass production, marketing and advertising. Defines what is meant and understood by diet, and evaluates good and bad food. Focuses briefly on traditional food exchanges in Western Samoa and on the use of olive oil in the traditional Mediterranean diet. Indicates that choice of food may be a result of production processes rather than consumer pressure. Explores also the social and cultural interactions of meal times and the role women’s emancipation has played in changing household food and meals. Points out that the lowest socioeconomic groups favour informal takeaways, while the highest socioeconomic groups prefer formal meals out, and, therefore, that the distribution of health and illness is shaped by cultural, social, economic and political forces.
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Patrick Larsson, Russell Lloyd, Emily Taberham and Maggie Rosairo
The purpose of this paper is to explore waiting times in improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT) services before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore waiting times in improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT) services before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper aims to help develop a better understanding of waiting times in IAPT so that interventions can be developed to address them.
Design/methodology/approach
IAPT national data reports was analysed to determine access and in-treatment waiting times before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Time-series data was used to examine referral patterns, waiting list size and waiting times between the period of November 2018 and January 2022. The data covers all regions in England where an IAPT service has been commissioned.
Findings
There was a dramatic drop in referrals to IAPT services when lockdown started. Waiting list size for all IAPT services in the country reduced, as did incomplete and completed waits. The reduction in waiting times was short-lived, and longer waits are returning.
Practical implications
This paper aims to contribute to the literature on IAPT waiting times both in relation to, and outside of, COVID-19. It is hoped that the conclusions will generate discussion about addressing long waits to treatment for psychological therapy and encourage further research.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no published research examining the performance of IAPT waiting times to second appointment. The paper also contributes to an understanding of how IAPT waiting times are measured and explores challenges with the system itself. Finally, it offers an overview on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on waiting time performance nationally.
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Abstract
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Stephanie D. Teasley, Vitaliy Popov, Jin-Seo Bae and Shannon Elkins
Yanina Chevtchouk, Cleopatra Veloutsou and Robert A. Paton
The marketing literature uses five different experience terms that are supposed to represent different streams of research. Many papers do not provide a definition, most of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The marketing literature uses five different experience terms that are supposed to represent different streams of research. Many papers do not provide a definition, most of the used definitions are unclear, the different experience terms have similar dimensionality and are regularly used interchangeably or have the same meaning. In addition, the existing definitions are not adequately informed from other disciplines that have engaged with experience. This paper aims to build a comprehensive conceptual framework of experience in marketing informed by related disciplines aiming to provide a more holistic definition of the term.
Design/methodology/approach
This research follows previously established procedures by conducting a systematic literature review of experience. From the approximately 5,000 sources identified in three disciplines, 267 sources were selected, marketing (148), philosophy (90) and psychology (29). To address definitional issues the analysis focused on enlightening four premises.
Findings
This paper posits that the term brand experience can be used in all marketing-related experiences and proposes four premises that may resolve the vagaries associated with the term’s conceptualization. The four premises address the what, who, how and when of brand experience and aim to rectify conceptual issues. Brand experience is introduced as a multi-level phenomenon.
Research limitations/implications
The suggested singular term, brand experience, captures all experiences in marketing. The identified additional elements of brand experience, such as the levels of experience and the revision of emotions within brand experience as a continuum, tempered by repetition, should be considered in future research.
Practical implications
The multi-level conceptualization may provide a greater scope for dynamic approaches to brand experience design thus providing greater opportunities for managers to create sustainable competitive advantages and differentiation from competitors.
Originality/value
This paper completes a systematic literature review of brand experience across marketing, philosophy and psychology which delineates and enlightens the conceptualization of brand experience and presents brand experience in a multi-level conceptualization, opening the possibility for further theoretical, methodological and interdisciplinary promise.
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Quinton Nottingham, Dana M. Johnson and Roberta Russell
Pressure from competition; inflexible third-party reimbursements; greater demand from government, regulatory and certifying agencies; discerning patients; and the quest of…
Abstract
Purpose
Pressure from competition; inflexible third-party reimbursements; greater demand from government, regulatory and certifying agencies; discerning patients; and the quest of healthcare entities for greater profitably place demands and high expectations for service quality impacting overall patient experience. Extending a prior multivariate, single-period model of varied medical practices predicting patient experience to a three-year time period to understand whether there was a change in overall assessment using data analytics. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
SEM was employed on a per year and aggregated, three-year basis to gain insights into qualitative psychometric constructs predicting overall patient experience and strength of the relationships.
Findings
Statistically significant differences were uncovered between years indicating the strength of the relationships of latent variables on overall performance.
Research limitations/implications
Study focused on data gathered from a questionnaire mailed to patients who visited various outpatient medical clinics in a rural community with over 4,000 responses during the three-year study period. A higher percentage of female respondents over the age of 45 may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
Practitioners can gain a broader understanding of different factors influencing overall patient experience. Administrative processes associated with the primary care provider are inconsequential. Patients are not as concerned with patient flow as they are with patient safety and health.
Originality/value
This research informs healthcare quality management of psychometrics and analytics to improve the overall patient experience in outpatient medical clinics.