IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v122y2018i2p147-156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Demographic factors and attitudes that influence the support of the general public for the introduction of universal healthcare in Ireland: A national survey

Author

Listed:
  • Darker, Catherine D.
  • Donnelly-Swift, Erica
  • Whiston, Lucy

Abstract

Ireland is still struggling to end the inequitable two-tiered health system and introduce universal healthcare (UHC). Public opinion can influence health policy choice and implementation. However, the public are rarely asked for their views. This study describes the demographic and attitudinal factors that influence the support of the public for the introduction of UHC. It provides data on a nationally representative survey sample of n=972. There are high levels of support for the introduction of UHC (n=846 87.0%). Logistic regression analyses indicated that demographic factors, such as, the location of respondent, whether the respondent was in receipt of Government supported healthcare, a purchaser of private health insurance or neither; plus attitudinal factors, such as, opinions on the Government prioritising healthcare, healthcare being free at the point of access, taxes being increased to provide care free at the point of access and how well informed participants felt about UHC were associated with agreeing with the introduction of UHC in Ireland. This paper is timely for policy leaders both in Ireland and internationally as countries with UHC, such as the United Kingdom, are facing difficulties maintaining health services in the public realm.

Suggested Citation

  • Darker, Catherine D. & Donnelly-Swift, Erica & Whiston, Lucy, 2018. "Demographic factors and attitudes that influence the support of the general public for the introduction of universal healthcare in Ireland: A national survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 147-156.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:122:y:2018:i:2:p:147-156
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2017.11.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851017303214
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2017.11.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Layte & Brian Nolan, 2004. "Equity in the Utilisation of Health Care in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 111-134.
    2. Wiseman, V. & Mooney, G. & Berry, G. & Tang, K. C., 2003. "Involving the general public in priority setting: experiences from Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 1001-1012, March.
    3. Litva, Andrea & Coast, Joanna & Donovan, Jenny & Eyles, John & Shepherd, Michael & Tacchi, Jo & Abelson, Julia & Morgan, Kieran, 2002. "'The public is too subjective': public involvement at different levels of health-care decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(12), pages 1825-1837, June.
    4. Priyanka Saksena & Justine Hsu & David B Evans, 2014. "Financial Risk Protection and Universal Health Coverage: Evidence and Measurement Challenges," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-11, September.
    5. Burke, Sara & Thomas, Steve & Barry, Sarah & Keegan, Conor, 2014. "Indicators of health system coverage and activity in Ireland during the economic crisis 2008–2014 – From ‘more with less’ to ‘less with less’," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 275-278.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johnston, Bridget M. & Burke, Sara & Barry, Sarah & Normand, Charles & Ní Fhallúin, Maebh & Thomas, Steve, 2019. "Private health expenditure in Ireland: Assessing the affordability of private financing of health care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(10), pages 963-969.
    2. Thurston, Wilfreda E. & MacKean, Gail & Vollman, Ardene & Casebeer, Ann & Weber, Myron & Maloff, Bretta & Bader, Judy, 2005. "Public participation in regional health policy: a theoretical framework," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 237-252, September.
    3. Rosenberg-Yunger, Zahava R.S. & Thorsteinsdóttir, Halla & Daar, Abdallah S. & Martin, Douglas K., 2012. "Stakeholder involvement in expensive drug recommendation decisions: An international perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 226-235.
    4. van Exel, Job & Baker, Rachel & Mason, Helen & Donaldson, Cam & Brouwer, Werner, 2015. "Public views on principles for health care priority setting: Findings of a European cross-country study using Q methodology," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 128-137.
    5. Broqvist, Mari & Garpenby, Peter, 2015. "It takes a giraffe to see the big picture – Citizens' view on decision makers in health care rationing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 301-308.
    6. Jane Robertson & Emily J Walkom & David A Henry, 2011. "Health Systems and Sustainability: Doctors and Consumers Differ on Threats and Solutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(4), pages 1-9, April.
    7. Miriam M. Wiley, 2005. "The Irish health system: developments in strategy, structure, funding and delivery since 1980," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(S1), pages 169-186, September.
    8. Kanika Kapur, 2020. "Private Health Insurance in Ireland: Trends and Determinants," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 51(1), pages 63-92.
    9. Richard Layte & Anne Nolan, 2015. "Eligibility for free GP care and the utilisation of GP services by children in Ireland," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 3-27, March.
    10. Hudson, Eibhlin & Nolan, Anne, 2015. "Public healthcare eligibility and the utilisation of GP services by older people in Ireland," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 24-43.
    11. Keegan, Conor & Brick, Aoife & Bergin, Adele & Wren, Maev-Ann & Whyte, Richard & Henry, Edward, 2020. "Projections of expenditure for public hospitals in Ireland, 2018–2035, based on the Hippocrates Model," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS117, June.
    12. Vollmer, Frank & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Baumert, Sophia & Luz, Ana Catarina & Woollen, Emily & Grundy, Isla & Artur, Luis & Ribeiro, Natasha & Mahamane, Mansour & Patenaude, Genevieve, 2017. "Charcoal income as a means to a valuable end: Scope and limitations of income from rural charcoal production to alleviate acute multidimensional poverty in Mabalane district, southern Mozambique," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 7, pages 43-60.
    13. Pivik, Jayne & Rode, Elisabeth & Ward, Christopher, 2004. "A consumer involvement model for health technology assessment in Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 253-268, August.
    14. O'Meara, Wendy Prudhomme & Tsofa, Benjamin & Molyneux, Sassy & Goodman, Catherine & McKenzie, F. Ellis, 2011. "Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector - A district perspective from Kenya," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 234-243, March.
    15. Walsh, Brendan & Wren, Maev-Ann & Smith, Samantha & Lyons, Seán & Eighan, James & Morgenroth, Edgar, 2019. "An analysis of the effects on Irish hospital care of the supply of care inside and outside the hospital," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS91, June.
    16. Degeling, Chris & Carter, Stacy M. & Rychetnik, Lucie, 2015. "Which public and why deliberate? – A scoping review of public deliberation in public health and health policy research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 114-121.
    17. Briggs, Adam D.M., 2013. "How changes to Irish healthcare financing are affecting universal health coverage," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 45-49.
    18. Purcel, Alexandra-Anca & Dragos, Cristian Mihai & Mare, Codruța & Dragos, Simona Laura, 2023. "Voluntary health insurance and out-of-pocket payments in European OECD countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    19. Scheil-Adlung, Xenia., 2015. "Long-term care protection for older persons : a review of coverage deficits in 46 countries," ILO Working Papers 994886493402676, International Labour Organization.
    20. Lennart Sjöberg & Britt-Marie Drottz-Sjöberg, 2008. "Risk Perception by Politicians and the Public," Energy & Environment, , vol. 19(3-4), pages 455-483, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:122:y:2018:i:2:p:147-156. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.