Outpatient GP and Specialist Care in Rural areas in Germany from the Point of View of Older residents in the District of Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Abstract

In some rural areas of Germany, there is an impending danger of insufficient health care provision. One of these regions is the rural county of Oberspreewald-Lausitz (OSL) in the federal state of Brandenburg. The aim of this study was to explore the points of view of middle-aged and older inhabitants of OSL with regard to their current outpatient primary medical care as well as their expectations regarding future health care in OSL in 2030. As part of the cross-sectional study, a questionnaire including closed and open questions was sent to a random sample of 3,006 inhabitants of OSL aged 50-56 years and 65-71 year. The majority of interviewees was "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the access to and availability of their general practitioner (93.1%) and specialist medical care (83.3%). There were, however, regional differences. 27.1% of the interviewees in the region of Lauchhammer/Schwarzheide considered their access to specialist medical services as "unsatisfactory" or "very unsatisfactory". The study participants were quite receptive towards alternative and complementary services, such as community nurses. However, such new models of care are still underrepresented and cannot assure sufficient health provision in the future. Currently, respondents of the rural county OSL are mostly satisfied with the level of outpatient health provision. In some areas, however, specialist care seems to be rather insufficient. In order to assure future health care provision in these areas, the inhabitants would appreciate the implementation of alternative and complementary services such as community nurses and telemedicine.