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Accessing healthcare in remote places among the elderly in French Polynesia: Aspects, determinants and experience Volume 14, issue 6, Juin 2018

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Authors
1 Médecin Assistant, Urgences du Centre hospitalier François Mitterrand, Boulevard Hauterive, 64000 Pau
2 Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux
3 Médecin généraliste remplaçant, Lyon
4 Gériatre, Centre gériatrique du Lanot, Dax
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Specific behaviors exist among the elderly in remote places in French Polynesia, linked to culture, geographical isolation and age, having an impact on healthcare experience. They can affect the understanding between patients and caregiver: it is the case of the refusal of invasive procedures or the acceptance of fate when they consider themselves old enough, but also the definition of health itself as a status allowing to work not in opposition with illness. Some behavior however, can be a powerful instrument to improve effective healthcare, such as notions of individual and collective responsibility of health. We furthermore observe changes in the use of traditional medication with a breakdown in the family transfer of knowledge which is not criticized. The awareness of such behavior has to be a key component to general practice. This research, first of its kind, opens the way to further investigations on healthcare strategies adapted to culture.

Licence This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License