Empowerment in Healthcare

By Veronica Scoggins

In my research, I chose to look at variables that considered whether people felt

empowered in their healthcare coverage and management. Although this study does delve into

details about where people get their health information, whether they have used a portal and how

they use that portal, I chose to focus on the questions that were applicable to every survey

participant.

My first objective was to look at the general demographics of the survey takers. How old

were they? What was their average education level? What was their income level? Were they

insured? This gives us an idea as to whether this sample group is representative of the population

as a whole or whether it skews toward specific groups more than others.

Second, I wanted to look at how empowered they felt in their healthcare. Were they

confident in their abilities when it came to their healthcare needs? Do they feel like they can find

the resources they need when they need them? Do they understand and feel comfortable with the

recommendations of their healthcare providers? Do they know how to find information to

address their healthcare needs and questions? And finally, do they feel they are healthy overall?

For my research I focused on the following questions:

Number Category
1 What year were you Born?
What is your education level?
1. Less than a High School Diploma
2. A High School Diploma
3. Some College
4. Two-year Degree
5. Bachelors Degree
6. Masters Degree
2 7. Doctoral Degree
 8. Professional Degree
Income Level
1. Below $20,000
2. $20,000 to $29,999
3. $30,000 to $39,999
4. $40,000 to $49,999
5. $50,000 to $59,999
6. $60,000 to $69,999
7. $70,000 to $79,999
8. $80,000 to $89,999
3 9. $90,0000 or more
4 Insured? Yes or no
Overall health?
1. In good physical health.
2. Mildly Physically Impaired (Only minor illnesses or disabilities)
3. Moderately Physically Impaired (One or more diseases or disabilities)
4. Severely Physically Impaired (Severely painful or life-threatening disease)
5 5. Totally Physically Impaired (Confined to bed or need full time assistance)
6 I am confident I can manage health effectively. (1-5 scale, one being least confident)
7 I can develop health improvement strategies. (1-5 scale, one being least confident).
8 I am comfy with healthcare pro's recommendations. (1-5 scale, one being least confident).
9 I know how to find info to address my health needs. (1-5 scale, one being least confident).
10 I have the resources I need to manage my health. (1-5 scale, one being least confident).

To make it easier to understand, I put all my data in a quick and easy excel spreadsheet. I

found this format more user-friendly than the output the SPSS system generated. This breaks

down the mean, median and mode of the ten categories above. It is as follows:

Number Category Mean Median Mode

1 Birth Year 59.65 63 63
2 Education Level 4.17 5 5
3 Income Level 3.94 3 3
4 Insured? 1.17 1 1
5 Overall health? 1 1 1
6 I am confident I can manage health effectively. 2.99 3 4
7 I can develop health improvement strategies. 3.35 4 4
I am comfy with healthcare pro's
8 recommendations. 3.13 3 4
9 I know how to find info to address my health needs. 3.06 3 4
10 I have the resources I need to manage my health. 3.06 3 4
 According to this chart, the average age of the survey taker was about 57 years old (born

in 1960). The most common age of survey takers was 63 years old. This means that the survey

participants skew a bit older than the general population. The average education level was a little

less than a bachelors degree. The average income level was around $40k to $50k. A little more

than half of the participants were insured. Not including age, these findings were all on par with

what I expected to find and seem fairly representative of the country as a whole.

One interesting result is that almost all the participants surveyed believed they were in

good physical health. Considering how common so many issues such as obesity, sedentary

lifestyles, poor eating habits and lack of good hygiene are common in our society, it is

surprising to me that so many people chose this selection However, considering the options that

were given to participants, most of the other categories may not have fit them well. The second

choice is Mildly Physically Impaired (You have only minor illnesses and/or disabilities which

might benefit from medical treatment or corrective measures). Because of how this was worded,

people might not want to choose this option. People may be reluctant to describe themselves as

physically impaired. Had this option been worded as Minor illnesses, some medications needed

or a small medical issue instead of Physically impaired, people may have answered

differently.

When it comes to empowerment in health, most people dont have much faith in their

ability to manage their health, to find the resources they need and to be in control of their health

needs. For instance, as to whether people felt they could manage their health effectively, the

most common answer was very middle-of-the-road, in which people were neither confident nor

unconfident in their abilities.

 Slightly more people believe they can develop health improvement strategies for

themselves, which is good, but that number could be higher. When people feel empowered in

their health decisions, they may be more likely to make better health decisions.

The next answer is disappointing and even a bit disturbing. When asked whether they

were comfortable following the recommendations of their healthcare provider to improve their

health, this had an average score of 3 on the 5-point scale. This means that consumers were not

confident that their healthcare provider was providing them with sound recommendations for

optimal health practices. This bar graph better breaks down the confidence of the survey

participants.

I AM COMFORTABLE FOLLOWING THE

RECOMMENDATIONS OF MY HEALTHCARE
PROVIDER TO IMPROVE MY HEALTH.
Participant Answers
176
93

88
74

66

STRONGLY DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE NOR DISAGREE

This shows a lot of room for improvement in that many people do not feel comfortable

taking the recommendations of their healthcare provider. Perhaps the providers have an

opportunity here to build better trust, to incorporate better resources and better educate their
patients on their health options. At least in hypothesis, people want to improve their health if

they can. If a provider can give information to its patients that is relevant and easy-to-implement,

the scores in this area may improve.

The other categories had similar results, which leads us to one of two areas of further

study. One no matter the area, are people more likely to give answers near the middle of the

road? If we ran a test on something that everyone liked, such as oxygen, would we still see

scores near the middle because people dont want to pick the extreme ends of the scale? It may

be that this nears three because people tend to pick conservatively or focus more on the negative

and dont want to give answers like strongly agree. This is my first question when looking at

this information.

Second, all these results point to a systematic problem: people dont feel empowered to

take care of their own health. They dont trust their health providers. They dont feel they have

the resources they need to make the best health decisions for themselves. They dont know where

to find these resources. The combination of this information shows that there is a real need for

healthcare overhaul. This overhaul should empower and inform patients and consumers so they

feel better able to handle their healthcare needs.