Co-Design of strategies to enhance access to Virtual Urgent Care models by equity-deserving populations.
other · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41996312.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pdig.0001368 and PMC identifier 13089694.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Virtual urgent care (VUC) was introduced in 2020 across the province of Ontario, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide urgent care for lower-acuity health needs for patients who did not require in-person care. Persons from equity-deserving populations (EDPs) often face barriers in using virtual models of care. To raise awareness and improve uptake of VUC among EDPs, a World Café was organized that convened a diverse group of individuals from healthcare, community, research, and/or people with living/or lived experience of health conditions to co-design VUC outreach strategies. The panel consisted of 36 persons (22 invitees; 14 members of the study team) who participated in a one-day, in-person event to reflect on key considerations related to VUC delivery for EDPs through facilitated small and large group discussions. We recorded all discussions via note-takers and analyzed the notes using content analysis. From this analysis, we identified three categories: a) lack of awareness about VUC and accessibility barriers; b) addressing issues of digital literacy and ensuring the perceived credibility of VUC; and c) opportunities for advancing VUC. Given the potential of VUC to serve as a culturally safe modality for EDPs, the World Café event served as a meaningful opportunity to exchange knowledge on health equity and to co-design strategies for improved awareness and uptake of VUC by EDPs.