Patients identified with internalizing mental health concerns utilize the ED at elevated rates while also reporting the greatest difficulties accessing care. These findings highlight the need for ED interventions aimed at identifying patient mental health concerns, as well as perceived barriers to care, to design interventions to effectively improve continuity of care.

IntroductionThe use of research associates (RA) programs to facilitate study enrollment in the emergency department was initiated during the mid-1990s. The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was an early adopting site for this model, which has experienced considerable growth and development over the past 20 years.MethodsOur goal was to detail the Emergency Department Research Associates (EDRA) program processes developed at the URMC that has led to our program’s sustainability and productivity. These processes, and the lessons learned during their development, can assist institutions seeking to establish an RA program or refine an existing program.ResultsDefined procedures for selecting, training, and monitoring EDRAs have been created and refined with the goal of maximizing study enrollment and minimizing protocol deviations. Our EDRA program functions as a paid service center for investigators, and our EDRAs engage in a variety of study-related activities including screening and enrolling patients, administering surveys, collecting bio-specimens, and making follow-up calls. Over the past two years, our program has averaged 222 enrollments/month (standard deviation = 79.93), gathering roughly 25 participants per study per month.ConclusionOur EDRA model has consistently resulted in some of the highest number of enrollments across a variety of recently funded, multi-center studies. Maintaining a high-quality EDRA program requires continual investment on the part of the leadership team, though the benefits to investigators within and outside the department outweigh these costs.

Background The prevalence of depression among patients in the emergency department (ED) is significantly higher than in the general population, making the ED a potentially important forum for the identification of depression and intervention. Concomitant to the identification of depression is the issue of patient access to appropriate care. Objectives This study sought to establish prevalence estimates of potential barriers to care among ED patients and relate these barriers with symptoms of depression. Methods Two medical students conducted brief surveys on all ED patients ≥ 18 years on demographics, perceived access to care, and depression. Results A total of 636 participants were enrolled. The percentage of participants with mild or greater depression was 42%. The majority of patients reported experiencing some barriers to care, with the most prominent being difficulty finding transportation, work responsibilities, and the feeling that the doctor is not responsive to their concerns. Higher depression scores were bivariately associated with higher overall barriers to care mean scores (r=0.44, p<0.001), suggesting that greater symptoms of depression are associated with greater difficulties accessing care. Particularly strong associations were observed between symptoms of depression and difficulty finding transportation, the feeling that the doctor is not responsive to patients’ concerns, embarrassment about a potential illness and confusion trying to schedule an appointment. Conclusion Across all barriers analyzed, there was a greater incidence of depression associated with a greater perception of barriers. These barriers may be used as potential targets for intervention to increase access to health care resources.

This study examined perceptions of barriers to care among patients presenting through the emergency department with a suicide attempt. Eighteen patients were surveyed on their perceived access to providers and how they felt 6 distinct barriers limited their access to treatment. Although most (73%) reported having a health care provider they could have contacted before their suicide attempt, the majority (78%) reported at least 1 moderate barrier to care, with the most common barrier being difficulty finding transportation. Of those reporting any experienced barriers, 80% reported more than 1. Knowledge of the most prevalent and serious barriers perceived can subsequently be used to craft tailored follow-up instructions to prevent repeated attempts. (PsycINFO Database Record

Introduction Emergency department (ED) patients experience a variety of barriers to care that can lead to unnecessary or repeated visits. By identifying the patterns of barriers experienced by subsets of the ED patient population, future researchers might effectively design interventions to circumvent these barriers and improve care. This study sought to identify classes of individuals with regard to perceived barriers to care. Methods Over a 10-week period, two medical students distributed surveys to eligible patients ≥18 years who presented to the ED. After consent, patients provided demographics data and rated their perceived access to care on nine specific items (scored 1–5). We used latent class analysis (LCA), a parametric clustering method, to determine patient groups. Demographic characteristics were then compared across classes. Results We enrolled a total of 637 patients. Results of the LCA indicated that a six-class solution fit best: 1) low barriers (60%); 2) “work responsibility” barriers (13%); 3) economic-related barriers (10%); 4) “appointment difficulty” barriers (8%); 5) “illness and care responsibilities” barriers (6%); and 6) diverse barriers (2%). Patients in the low-barriers class were the oldest across classes (p<.001). Individuals in the low-barriers class were also more likely to be White (p=.015) and have private insurance (p<.001) than those in the “appointment difficulty,” “illness and care responsibilities,” and diverse barriers classes. Conclusion LCA suggests there are six distinct classes of patients with regard to perceived access to care. These classes may be used as a potential starting point in designing targeted interventions for ED patients to improve continuity of care.

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