TY - JOUR
T1 - Feasibility and acceptability of nurse-led youth clinics in Australian general practice
AU - Hegarty, Kelsey
AU - Parker, Rhian
AU - Newton, Danielle
AU - Forrest, Laura
AU - Seymour, Janelle
AU - Sanci, Lena
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Internationally, youth access to primary health care is problematic due to documented barriers such as cost, concerns about confidentiality, and knowledge about when to attend and available services. The treatment of health problems earlier in life together with engagement in prevention and health education can optimise youth health and maximise the potential of future wellbeing. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability and cost of establishing nurse-led youth clinics in Victoria, Australia. Three general practices in rural and regional areas of Victoria implemented the nurse-led youth health clinics. The clinics were poorly attended by young people. Practice nurses identified several barriers to the clinic attendance including the short timeframe of the study, set times of the clinics and a lack of support for the clinics by some GPs and external youth health clinics, resulting in few referrals. The clinics cost from $5912 to $8557 to establish, which included training the practice nurses. Benefits of the clinics included increased staff knowledge about youth health issues and improved relationships within the general practice staff teams. The implementation of youth health clinics is not feasible in a short timeframe and to maximise use of the clinics, all members of the general practice team need to find the clinics acceptable.
AB - Internationally, youth access to primary health care is problematic due to documented barriers such as cost, concerns about confidentiality, and knowledge about when to attend and available services. The treatment of health problems earlier in life together with engagement in prevention and health education can optimise youth health and maximise the potential of future wellbeing. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability and cost of establishing nurse-led youth clinics in Victoria, Australia. Three general practices in rural and regional areas of Victoria implemented the nurse-led youth health clinics. The clinics were poorly attended by young people. Practice nurses identified several barriers to the clinic attendance including the short timeframe of the study, set times of the clinics and a lack of support for the clinics by some GPs and external youth health clinics, resulting in few referrals. The clinics cost from $5912 to $8557 to establish, which included training the practice nurses. Benefits of the clinics included increased staff knowledge about youth health issues and improved relationships within the general practice staff teams. The implementation of youth health clinics is not feasible in a short timeframe and to maximise use of the clinics, all members of the general practice team need to find the clinics acceptable.
KW - GPs
KW - cost
KW - nurses
KW - primary health care.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877633548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/PY12025
DO - 10.1071/PY12025
M3 - Article
SN - 1448-7527
VL - 19
SP - 159
EP - 165
JO - Australian Journal of Primary Health
JF - Australian Journal of Primary Health
IS - 2
ER -