ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to elucidate the context of medical experience and the perception of unmet healthcare of elderly people with chronic diseases based on in-depth interview data. METHODS: We carried out in-depth interviews with 10 elderly people with chronic diseases using semi-structured questionnaires based on literature review. The in-depth interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis; one qualitative research methodology, three core meaning categories, and four attributes associated with unmet healthcare were ultimately derived. RESULTS: The context of the medical experience were based on the following three categories: (1) discomfort due to diseases and high medical needs, (2) the poor community medical environment and difficulties in accessing to metropolitan medical institutions, and (3) inconvenience caused by long waiting time and side effects of medicine. In addition, the elderly with chronic disease realized the unmet healthcare as (1) the availability related to the desired medical institutions at the right time, (2) the affordability related to their economic capacity, (3) the effectiveness of the medical services they experienced, and (4) the appropriateness related to receiving medical services in a pleasant environment. CONCLUSION: The perception of unmet healthcare among the elderly with chronic disease is the result of interaction of multi-level and multi-dimensional factors related with their medical experience.