Barbara Starfield: passage of the pathfinder of primary care

'I don't know exactly what that means to do check-ups': understanding and experiences of primary care among resettled young adult refugees

Young adult refugees have suboptimal primary care use, including having a regular provider and engaging with a regular source of care for primary and preventive healthcare needs. Our purpose was to understand how young adult refugees (ages 18-29 years) resettled to the United States understand and experience primary care. We conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with young adult refugees and explored their ideas about and experiences of key characteristics of primary care. Emergent themes were synthesized. Young adult refugees reported a lack of an understanding of the idea of primary care. However, they also described the lack of accepted key components of primary care, such as being the first contact and providing continuity, coordination and comprehensiveness. The importance of developing an ability to ask questions, get answers and feel empowered was a facilitator of primary care successes. Young refugees lack access to healthcare that exemplifies quality primary care. Improving understanding of the primary care model and its value as well as increasing access and ease of engagement could improve primary care engagement for young adult refugees.

Role of the family doctor in the management of adults with obesity: a scoping review

OBJECTIVES

Obesity management is an important issue for the international primary care community. This scoping review examines the literature describing the role of the family doctor in managing adults with obesity. The methods were prospectively published and followed Joanna Briggs Institute methodology.

SETTING

Primary care. Adult patients.

INCLUDED PAPERS

Peer-reviewed and grey literature with the keywords obesity, primary care and family doctors. All literature published up to September 2015. 3294 non-duplicate papers were identified and 225 articles included after full-text review.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Data were extracted on the family doctors' involvement in different aspects of management, and whether whole person and person-centred care were explicitly mentioned.

RESULTS

110 papers described interventions in primary care and family doctors were always involved in diagnosing obesity and often in recruitment of participants. A clear description of the provider involved in an intervention was often lacking. It was difficult to determine if interventions took account of whole person and person-centredness. Most opinion papers and clinical overviews described an extensive role for the family doctor in management; in contrast, research on current practices depicted obesity as undermanaged by family doctors. International guidelines varied in their description of the role of the family doctor with a more extensive role suggested by guidelines from family medicine organisations.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a disconnect between how family doctors are involved in primary care interventions, the message in clinical overviews and opinion papers, and observed current practice of family doctors. The role of family doctors in international guidelines for obesity may reflect the strength of primary care in the originating health system. Reporting of primary care interventions could be improved by enhanced descriptions of the providers involved and explanation of how the pillars of primary care are used in intervention development.