M.A. Theses
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Browsing M.A. Theses by Subject "Health -- Turkey."
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Item An analysis of Turkish oral healthcare system :|patients' perceptions and treatment pathways(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Aydın, Sibel.; Yılmaz, Volkan.Universal Health Coverage (UHC), as a globally set policy target in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, offers a unique opportunity for countries to make their healthcare systems more inclusive. However, oral healthcare provision and financial protection in oral healthcare have not been adequately addressed in the literature on UHC, despite its significance for health outcomes. Against this background, this thesis examines patient perceptions and treatment pathways in oral healthcare in the case of Turkey — a country that has achieved UHC and has taken steps to make oral healthcare more accessible in the recent years. In this context, this thesis explores the way the Turkish oral healthcare system shapes patient pathways to diagnosis and treatment. It relies on an explanatory qualitative study that includes 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in April 2021 with dental patients from a public and a private dental clinic in one neighbourhood in Istanbul. The thematic analysis reveals that four major factors have a significant impact on shaping the dental patients’ pathway towards diagnosis and treatment: Dentist stability, perceived dentist responsiveness to patient preferences, medical care costs, and waiting time. Based on these factors, this thesis identifies two distinct patient pathways that the Turkish oral healthcare system has: Shortcut and undefined pathways. Patients willing and able to purchase private services have a direct and fast access (shortcut pathway), whereas patients relying on the General Health Insurance have an unpredictable and meandering one (undefined pathway).Item Breast cancer patient pathways to treatment in Turkey’s internal healthcare market :|a qualitative study(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Kesici, Zeynep.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.The importance of managing noncommunicable diseases, such as cancer, has been viewed as a vital component of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) due to their worldwide high prevalence, significant disease burden, and sometimes life-long medical ramifications for patients. Having been deemed an achiever of UHC, Turkey has implemented an internal market for healthcare to achieve equal access to healthcare. Against this background, this thesis explores breast cancer patients’ experiences of access and pathways to treatment in private hospitals offering publicly-funded services (PHOPS) in Turkey. It examines the factors that shape these pathways and the implications of these pathways for patients. This thesis relies on a thematic analysis of an exploratory qualitative study that includes 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted between July and August 2021 with female breast cancer patients using private hospitals. It reveals two interrelated factors that shape patient pathways during the diagnosis and treatment stages: the projected cost of treatment and barriers to accessing integrated medical care. Based on these two factors, two distinct patient pathways, insured and underinsured patient pathways, are identified. While patients with private health insurance alongside compulsory general health insurance experience easy access to timely and effective treatment (insured pathway), those who only count on the latter deal with complicated processes of accessing treatment such as combining different providers (underinsured pathway). The thesis concludes that the insurance status of patients has a significant influence on experiences of access and pathways to treatment in PHOPS.