Abstract
Background/Aims The St. Vincent de Paul Free Clinic in Marshfield, WI, opened in 1998 to serve the unmet healthcare needs of local patients. The clinic serves approximately 500 patients per year at bimonthly primary care clinics and a monthly diabetes-specific clinic. The purpose of this project was to identify unmet healthcare needs as targets for new program development.
Methods Health assessment forms from regional healthcare providers and free clinics were used to develop a 45 question patient survey regarding demographics, healthcare seeking behaviors, preventative health, lifestyle, diabetes care, employment, and health insurance. The survey was approved by the free clinic board and administered by intake staff to all patients presenting from 11/21/2012–7/3/2013. Surveys were anonymous and participation was optional. Data were manually entered into an electronic form registered with Qualtics.com for statistical analysis.
Results Surveys were completed by 107 patients (43% male), 63% of whom were ages 40–59. Results indicated a need for improved preventative health care, including vaccinations, comprehensive physical examinations, eye examinations, dental examinations, cancer screening, and diabetic foot exams. Sixty-four percent of respondents had answers suggestive of depression via the PHQ2 screening tool. In terms of healthy habits, 40% of respondents reported low physical activity levels, 67% felt they needed to lose weight, and 93% indicated low fruit/vegetable intake. However, nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated interest in improving physical activity or weight loss. Though 24% of respondents’ employers offered health insurance, reasons for uninsured status were cost (49%), insufficient coverage (8%), or others (43%), including part-time employment status.
Conclusions Our patient-centered healthcare assessment identified several areas of need to be addressed, including soliciting volunteer services from area dental health professionals, exploring mechanisms to address mental health needs and compiling a pamphlet of local low or no-cost mental health services, and implementing a 12-week weight loss program with gym access, dietary counseling, and group support. Cost of insurance will likely continue to be an issue for many patients despite mandatory coverage, stressing the importance of free clinic services. Future healthcare assessments will be conducted to determine program success, identify additional areas of need, and inform the design of future programs.
