Population perspectives on health system performance: preliminary findings from Switzerland
E Clarke-Deelder, A Duchenko, G FinkAbstract
Background
Healthcare costs have risen rapidly in recent years, raising concerns regarding the sustainability of the Swiss current health system. While Switzerland usually fares well in international life expectancy rankings, relatively little is known regarding public perceptions of the system, and almost no data is available on how well the system performs for adolescents and migrant populations.
Methods
We conducted a nationally representative People’s Voice Survey in the general population as well as among adolescents using the YouGov online panel, and contacted migrants from Afghanistan, Eritrea and the Ukraine via mail. We estimated access, perceived quality of care as well as overall health system performance by sex, age group, ethnic group and language region (German, French, Italian).
Results
A total of 1254 respondents participated in the online survey. Even though the majority of respondents indicated the overall quality of health care was high, 28.7% of respondents felt the system was deteriorating, with particularly negative perceptions among respondents over age 60 in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. Knowledge of insurance choices—including deductibles, supplemental coverage, and care models— was also relatively strong among the population. Mental health services emerged as a key area of concern, with only 31.6% of the population saying the system performed well in this area.
Conclusions
Switzerland’s health system seems to be performing well overall, but is currently failing to provide adequate mental health services; in general older populations seem more satisfied that younger ones, raising concerns regarding the sustainability of the current system.