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Module 1: Patient navigation and health disparities

Barriers to healthcare for patients and providers

A chronic disease diagnosis and treatment can be a difficult emotional and physical experience for any patient. Many patients are faced with barriers that cause them to avoid or delay treatment. For these patients, the experience becomes even more difficult.

In this section we will look at the types of barriers patients may face in getting preventive screening. We also talk about why some patients experience more barriers.

What are barriers to healthcare? Any situation that makes treatment difficult.

Barriers to healthcare are non-medical situations that make a diagnosis or treatment difficult for patients. Healthcare barriers can be due to:

• Socioeconomic conditions (how much money a person makes, their education or job)
• Logistical issues (how close they live to medical care, if they have reliable transportation)
• Language or culture (difficulty speaking the language, culture differences)
• The healthcare system

Let’s look at each of these barriers in more detail, starting with socioeconomic ones.

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