Vulnerable people need health-care system to come to them: study

A new study in Cape Breton has found that people living in poverty and those dealing with mental illness or addiction are in need of a different kind of health-care system, one that reaches out to meet them where they are.

The study was done by researchers at Cape Breton University and the Ally Centre in Sydney, which provides primary health care for vulnerable people.

Researchers interviewed 52 people. Of those, 38 per cent were homeless.

Margaret Dechman, a sociologist at CBU, told the CBC's Information Morning Cape Breton many of the people interviewed said they won't see a doctor because they are scared of being judged.

That fear only grows over time, she said.

"You're scared about what might be wrong with you."

Hiring doctors not enough

Janet Bickerton, a registered nurse who volunteers at the Ally Centre, said hiring more doctors isn't the solution for vulnerable people. 

"What we need to do really is to reach out to that population," she said. 

"So even if we have 100 more doctors, that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to want to have those kinds of clients in their practice. Physicians are private business people inside universal health care. They can decide who they want and don't want in their practice."

Street health teams 

Bickerton said there is a street health team in Halifax that focuses on people living in poverty, as well as those dealing with mental illness or addictions.

"Everyone is in agreement that something different has to be done for this population," she said. 

"They're not looking [for public health care]. They often don't have the resources to follow up on treatment anyway. They have no money to buy a prescription."

Dechman said it's wrong to dismiss vulnerable people as being weak or not having willpower. 

"The more you judge people, the less capacity they have to make good decisions for themselves," she said.