Sammendrag
Det er gjort lite forskning på ungdoms forhold til sin fastlege her i
Norge. Denne oppgaven ser derfor på om ungdom har unngått å oppsøke sin fastlege selv om de har hatt behov, og hva som i så fall var hindringen. Det ble funnet at over halvparten av jentene og 30 % av guttene hadde valgt å ikke gå. Opplevelsen av sitt problem som ikke stort nok var årsaken de fleste rapporterte. Andre årsaker med over 20 % rapporterte var kostnad, vanskelig å bestille time og at de ikke følte de fikk nok hjelp hos legen. Det ble også undersøkt hva slags tiltak ungdom tror kunne senke terskelen for å gå til legen. Gratis for ungdom å oppsøke fastlegen var tiltaket flest ungdommer rapporterte at de trodde kunne senke terskelen.
There is little existing research on youth and their perception of their medical doctor (general practitioner) in Norway. This present study investigates if and why adolescents avoid seeking help from their general practitioner when they have health concerns. Results showed that 50 % of girls and 30 % of boys have chosen not to see their general practitioner when they have had a health concern. In most cases this was due to a feeling that the concern was not serious enough to warrant a visit. The expense of the visit and the difficulty in obtaining an appointment was also significant (20%). The study also highlighted a significant perception among adolescents that they are unable to get appropriate help from their general practitioner. Finally, this study investigated possible strategies to overcome these barriers to adolescent healthcare. 85 % of adolescent respondents stated "Free Healthcare" as being their preferred solution, however email and SMS methods for obtaining appointments or asking questions also scored highly.