People value health. Yet impoverished patients face many barriers in seeking and receiving care. This chapter challenges the hypothesis that low service utilization of services is due to lack of patient knowledge. Rather, the chapter posits that low utilization is due to barriers to care (Quality of care, another factor in low utilization, will be addressed in Chapter 10). The chapter highlights offers the approaches caregiving and accompaniment to help providers and managers understand the geographical distance, harrowing transportation, and financial challenges that patients face. This understanding should support the design of more empathic and patient-centered programs that reduce barriers to care. To that end, this chapter introduces a tool called the care delivery value chain which is a helpful framework to design a system that optimizes access and services across the continuum of care.
System and Patient Barriers to Care among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Houston/Harris County, Texas
