Many people in Hawaii are suffering from food insecurity and delays in accessing health care largely due to financial problems caused by the pandemic, according to a poll released Tuesday.
Nearly six in 10 respondents, or 58%, said they had experienced health care delays in the past year, with 21% characterizing wait times as “significant.”
The survey showed that 52% said they had cut their food and grocery budgets, while 36% reported cutting back on medical care or medication for financial reasons, with 40% blaming the coronavirus pandemic for increasing their economic woes.
The findings were based on a mostly online survey of 3,287 residents and 324 health care providers, which was conducted from April 1 to May 9 by Community First Hawaii, a nonprofit health advocacy group.
Health care providers and the community blamed physician shortages and shortages of psychiatric and behavioral health specialists for the delays, according to the survey. He singled out psychiatry and mental health counseling as professional areas most needed.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents reported that “they and/or a family member need counseling or coping skills.”
The survey also warned that the situation is likely to worsen with many healthcare providers saying they are considering reducing their hours (52%), leaving or retiring from medicine (53%) and/or relocating to the mainland ( 49%).
Some of the biggest complaints from respondents were not being able to get to appointments, being told to go to urgent care instead of seeing primary care doctors, feeling rushed at appointments, delays in testing and diagnosis, and having to travel long distances to find. providers.
A majority, or 55% of respondents consider their communities healthy. But economic disparities were glaring, with low-income people dependent on Medicaid as well as rural areas suffering the most under the current system, according to analysis provided by the group.
Pacific Islanders also reported “blatant discrimination” and raised concerns about a lack of interpreters and cultural awareness.
Grove Insight President Lisa Grove, who moderated the survey, called the findings “heartbreaking.”
“The other thing that was heartbreaking was seeing the responses from people talking about their mental health issues, especially parents talking about their teenagers and how they can’t access care,” she said.
It didn’t provide any margin of error calculated because it was done mostly online, but the methodology section said that by setting sampling quotas and weighting the demographic makeup against the true population, it was providing “a representative picture of Hawaii at this point in time.” “.
Community First Hawaii said it plans to convene a task force to look at the survey’s findings and come up with solutions.
Civil Beat health coverage is supported by Atherton Family FoundationSwayne Family Fund of Hawaii Community Foundation, Cooke Foundation and Unity Health Board.
