Persevering: The Experience of Well Elderly Women Overcoming the Barriers to the U.S. Health Care System

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To explore the barriers to health care for well older community living women living in a metropolitan area in North Central Texas.

Methods: Qualitative thematic design. Forty-six women who attended seniors' centers in North Central Texas participated in focus groups. Then three individual and a key informant interviews were completed. Data were analyzed using Lubrosky's thematic analysis.

Findings: The participants described barriers to access associated with provider barriers of devaluing older adults, the complexity and slowness of reimbursement, inadequacy of health insurance plans and physicians opting out of plans. Participants overcame these barriers by persevering.

KEYWORDS:

• Older women
• research
• barriers
• health care