Abstract
Introduction: Religiously affiliated healthcare organizations play an important role in the delivery of care in the United States. There is a gap in the literature regarding patients’ attitudes toward receiving care at these institutions, especially in geographically diverse populations. Methods: In this two-site pilot study, we conducted a written survey of 141 adult primary care patients at non-religiously affiliated clinics in rural and urban Colorado. Demographic information, measures of religiosity and spirituality, and opinions regarding religiously affiliated care were collected. Results: 73.3% and 69.6% of patients in rural and urban counties, respectively, had no preference as to the religious affiliation of their care. However, patients in the urban county (24.1%) were more likely than those in the rural county (8.3%) to prefer care that was not affiliated with any religion. Conclusions: This study suggests that concerns such as proximity to care and patient/provider relationships may be more important to patients than the possible religious affiliation of a healthcare organization. This work is a first step in better understanding patients’ attitudes toward religiously affiliated care in urban versus rural settings.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Journal of Primary Care and Community Health |
Volume | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- patient preference
- religion
- rural
- spirituality
- urban
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Community and Home Care