Health services accessibility is a key health policy issue. However, few in-depth studies have addressed it theoretically. Most distinguish between availability, accessibility, and acceptability, or between geographic, financial, administrative, and cultural accessibility. We discuss and analyze the concept of accessibility as conflictive articulation between supply and demand in health. The article addresses the importance of cultural accessibility, rethinking it as a social interface, i.e., a social arena with clashing worldviews (namely, those of physicians and patients). The approach sheds light on the complex processes of grasping, translating, and reshaping knowledge and recommendations within such interaction.
Health Services Accessibility; Cultural Factors; Psychological Phenomena and Processes; Communication Barriers
