Table 2 Themes and sub-themes
Themes | Sub-themes | |
|---|---|---|
Facilitators | Barriers | |
Accessing affordable care | • Affordable charges & presence of “helping hands” | • Financial challenges specific to the MediSave withdrawal limit, higher non-standard drug charges & support schemes |
Ability to reach & utilise services | • Perceived accessibility to comprehensive services | • Impractical for polyclinics to cover all patients • Challenges of elderly navigating the polyclinic system • Long waiting time |
Receiving safe and quality care | • Quality assurance and improvement efforts • Collaboration among multidisciplinary teams | • Challenges of physicians adhering to clinical and other guidelines • Perceived inadequate consultation duration • Lack of care continuity • Difficulties of polyclinics managing complex patients |
Self-managing in the community | • Patient education and empowerment • Patients with understanding on conditions and making some forms of lifestyle modification | • Infeasible for polyclinics to track patients’ progress closely • Low adoption of technology by patients • Multiple factors influencing patients’ self-management and decision to make lifestyle changes |