What sort of medical care is ideal? Differences in thoughts on medical care among residents of urban and rural/remote Japanese communities
2017
Studies of aspirational ideals of
medicalcare generally focus on patients rather than on ordinary people receiving or not receiving
medicationsat the time of interview. The literature has not accurately conveyed the distinct ideals in individual communities or undertaken inter-regional comparisons. This current qualitative study focused on ideal
medicalcare as perceived by residents of distinct Japanese communities in their everyday lives. Between December 2011 and November 2012, one-on-one and group-based semi-structured interviews were conducted with 105 individuals, each of whom had continuously lived for 20 years or more in one of the four types of communities classified as either ‘metropolitan area’, ‘provincial city’, ‘mountain/fishing village’ or ‘remote island’ in Japan. Interviews were transcribed from
digital audiorecordings and then analysed (in tandem with non-verbal data including participants’ appearances, attitudes and interview atmospheres) using constructivist grounded theory, in which we could get the voice and mind of the participant concerning ideal
medicalcare. The common themes observed among the four community types included ‘peace of mind because of the availability of
medicalcare’ and ‘trust in
medicalprofessionals’. Themes that were characteristic of urban communities were the tendency to focus on the content of
medicalcare, including ‘high-level
medicalcare’, ‘elimination of unnecessary
medicalcare’ and ‘faster, cheaper
medicalcare’, whereas those that were characteristic of rural communities were the tendency to focus on lifestyle-oriented
medicalcare such as ‘support for local lifestyles’, ‘locally appropriate standards of
medicalcare’ and ‘being free from dependence on
medicalcare’. The sense of ideal
medical
carein urban
communitiestended to centre around the satisfaction with the content of
medicalcare, whereas that in rural communities tended to centre around the ability to lead a secure life. By considering
medicalcare from the geographical point of view, we found out the significant relationship between communities and perceptions of
medicalcare ideals.
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