Recorded presentation

Sharon K. Hull, MD¹, Timothy P. Daaleman, DO¹, Samruddhi Thaker, MBBS, MHA², and Donald E Pathman, MD, MPH³. (1) Department of Family Medicine & School of Public Health, University of North Carolina @ Chapel Hill, CB 7595, Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7595, 919-452-7369, Sharon_Hull@med.unc.edu, (2) Health Policy and Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 725 Airport Road, CB 7590, Sheps Center for Health Services Research, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, (3) Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 725 Airport Road, CB 7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27713-7590

Research Objective: To examine associations between access to health care and the use of faith-based healers (FBH). Study Design: This is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from an evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Southern Regional Access Program (SRAP). Using random digit dialing, a telephone survey was conducted among households in 150 nonmetropolitan counties. Adults who spoke English or Spanish were surveyed. Analyses were conducted of associations between reported access to health care and utilization of FBH. Principal Findings: 4879 respondents completed the survey and 197 (4.0%) reported having seen a FBH within the previous year. Users of FBH were more likely to: have poorer health status (p= 0.0002), have had a break in health insurance coverage in the past 12 months (p = 0.0076), report delaying (p = 0.0018) or foregoing (p=0.0057) needed medical care, and feel that cost was an impediment to their receipt of care (p=0.0072). Controlling for age, ethnicity, gender, education, employment status, marital status and state of residence, users of FBH were more likely to report poorer health status (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.41-3.11), foregoing needed medical care (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.02-2.49), delaying needed medical care (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.06-2.16), and cost as an impediment in their receipt of care (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.01-2.08) when compared with non-users of FBH. Conclusions: Patients in the rural southern US who utilize FBH are more likely to have poorer health status and report facing barriers to access to health care than non-FBH users.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants (learners) will be able to

• Identify characteristics of patients in the rural south who choose to see faith-based healers
• Describe the relationship between common measures of access to health care and individuals' choice to see faith-based healers
• Discuss the public health implications of the link between access to health care and use of complementary or alternative medical therapies.

Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Access to Health Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation