Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #100010

George D. Weiner, PhD, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University, 1717 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-2105, 216.687.6893, george@urban.csuohio.edu and Joseph G. Ahern, The Center for Community Solutions, 1226 Huron Road, Cleveland, OH 44115-1702.

While considerable attention has been given to expanding health insurance coverage, less has been accorded to facilitating “medical homes,” which we define as a usual source of care, other than a hospital emergency department, and making the structural and policy changes to encourage their use. This study analyzes findings from the 2003-04 Ohio Family Health Survey (OFHS), a telephone survey of nearly 40,000 households throughout the state, to delineate the prevalence and distribution of children and adults who have no medical home. The OFHS collected information about individual and household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health insurance coverage, access to care and financial burden, utilization of health care services, chronic conditions, current health status, personal risk factors, and unmet health care needs from an adult in the household. When the household included one or more children, similar information was collected from the adult about the child with the most recent birthday. The sample design of the OFHS includes stratification and over-sampling of selected counties, as well as over-sampling of African-American households across the state, and households with children and Hispanic households in selected urban counties. Census tracts are identified for most respondent households. We identify the demographic, socioeconomic, environmental, and other geographically-linked determinants associated with having a medical home, as well as determine correlates, including health care utilization, health risk behaviors, unmet health care needs, and health status, while controlling for predisposing and enabling characteristics. As Ohio has a large (11.4 million) and diverse population, findings should have relevance elsewhere.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, attendees will understand

• the logic and design of the Ohio Family Health Survey;
• the sociodemographic and environmental characteristics of children and adults with no medical home;
• the consequences of not having a medical home.

Keywords: Community Health Planning, Health Care Access

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.