The Basics of Public Health: Accessibility 

Hey everyone! It’s already November and the days have gotten darker – but never fear because I’m here with my first blog post! The theme of this month is The Basics of Public Health, which will cover basic aspects of public health. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave a question for me in the Ask Me tab. Without further ado – read on below. 

Our first topic will be focusing on accessibility as the heart of public health, and how that relates to health services specifically. The three dimensions of accessibility work together to create the access of care model (there are different aspects and dimensions that are included in this model, but for the purposes of this blog post, I will be focusing on availability, affordability, and acceptability). For a health service to be truly accessible, it must have three major components, availability, affordability, and acceptability, which I will go in-depth below. 1

Availability is important because it helps public health officials quantify the services that are available for people to use and if they are able to provide those services to a wide range of people. This is especially important when it comes to hospitals and clinics because hospital and clinic staff have strict numbers when they are determining how many people can use a service at any one given time due to capacity and resource limits as well as overcrowding issues (i.e. if there isn’t enough resources to provide a patient with adequate care, they would need to be transferred over to another hospital, etc.). This factor can contribute to longer wait times, a greater strain on the healthcare system, and a lack of availability for a family doctor as well (but these issues will be explored in depth in a future post). 1

Affordability is dependent on where you are receiving care in the world and includes the type of care being received. For example, in British Columbia, the MSP (Medical Services Plan) covers most of the major health needs (also known as medically necessary services) of the average Canadian citizen, with some exceptions, such as physiotherapy. 3 This is mitigated by the Supplementary benefits that can be applied for if you meet various eligibility criteria, such as lower income. Affordability is also affected if the out-of-pocket costs for some prescriptions are more than what the average person can afford. 2

Acceptability is subjective to the patient or persons receiving the health service in question, however there are a few objective points that can be made about it. The health service offered must be appropriate and reflect professional standards, outcomes, and expectations. 4 For example, if I am going into a clinic for a full checkup, I must receive the proper standard of care which includes filling out a questionnaire, getting my height and weight recorded, and the doctor must answer any relevant questions about my health, etc. The person or persons offering the service must be qualified and respectful, and the service must reflect the value and cost. This ties into affordability as well, but this is dependent on where you are getting the health service done. 2

Accessibility is very important to me on a personal level, because of my grandmother. A few years ago, she had come in from the United States to get a refill on her prescriptions because she wasn’t able to return to the United States on the same day due to flight issues. My grandmother doesn’t speak a lot of English, so it was up to me translate everything the pharmacist was saying to her, while also explaining the costs and different dosages of the medication and how her insurance ties into it as well because she’s American.

That day, I had realized that if I or someone in my family wasn’t able to help her translate everything, my grandmother would have had to navigate everything on her own and would have had to pay a translator to help her navigate the healthcare system in a country different from her own. After that day, I was inspired to not only learn as much as I can about accessibility, but to embark on my own personal projects regarding accessibility not just for my grandmother, but for everyone that needs help navigating the healthcare system nationwide. 

Accessibility in healthcare is tied to many sociological factors and can play a part in how someone interacts with and is able to access healthcare for themselves. These three components make up accessibility and understanding them(or at least starting a conversation about it) can contribute to a better standard of living and better health for all. 

Finally, I’ll end this post with a question: What is your experience with healthcare accessibility? Do you find it difficult to find care in your community? 

References:

1.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168851014002012#:~:text=It%20can%20be%20measured%20across,clients%20experience%20the%20access%20process       

2. https://www.cma.ca/healthcare-for-real/what-health-care-accessibility

3. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/benefits/services-covered-by-msp/supplementary-benefits#eligibility

4. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-017-2031-8#citeas

Published on: November 14, 2025