INFORMATION NEEDS OF HOSPITAL PATIENTS: A SURVEY OF SATISFACTION LEVELS IN A LARGE CITY HOSPITAL
| Date | 01 January 1994 |
| Published date | 01 January 1994 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026922 |
| Pages | 10-23 |
| Author | PAULINE CAMERON,KATE CORBETT,CLARE DUNCAN,KAREN HEGYI,HELEN MAXWELL,PAUL F. BURTON |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
INFORMATION NEEDS OF HOSPITAL PATIENTS: A SURVEY OF
SATISFACTION LEVELS IN A LARGE CITY HOSPITAL
PAULINE CAMERON, KATE CORBETT, CLARE DUNCAN, KAREN HEGYI, HELEN
MAXWELL and PAUL F. BURTON*
Department of Information Science, University of Strathclyde
Glasgow G1 1XH
The study presents the principal results of a survey into patient
information needs and satisfaction levels in a large general hospital
as part of a feasibility study on the provision of a patient
information service. The background to the survey is the change in
the patient/doctor relationship to one of consumer/supplier, coupled
with the growing awareness of the importance of patient education
and information as a form of preventive medicine. The survey found
that information given prior to admission increased satisfaction
rates for information provision generally, but also led to more
questions being asked during the stay in hospital. Patients were
given information freely, though there are slight gender differences,
and there is a preference for verbal rather than written information
from doctors. There are implications for patient information
services. A range of patient resources is provided by wards, but
there are problems of co-ordination of supply and the human
resources needed to manage them effectively.
1.
THE BACKGROUND TO PATIENT INFORMATION SERVICES
1.1 Patient information services
THERE ARE TWO PRINCIPAL INFLUENCES on the current interest in
the provision of information to hospital patients. Firstly, there is the
realisation that patient education could act as a form of preventive medi-
cine.
Iroka, for example, has indicated[1, p. 111] that 'In the
USA
most
hospitals have now recognised that patient education is an important part of
health care delivery'. Secondly, the growing use of the terms 'customer' or
'consumer' to describe citizens and their rights to choices within the health
service represents a new attitude to patients: 'the concept of consumer holds
within it a more equal relationship than that implied in the traditional
professional-patient interface. Consumers seek information and they use that
information to make choices about their own health care'[2, p. 40]. Both of
these influences are currently at work in the UK National Health Service,
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed
Journal
of
Documentation,
vol. 50, no. 1, March 1994, pp. 10-23
10
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