Publicatie

Correctional health care for general practitioners: working circumstances, work satisfaction and burnout.

Brake, J.H.M. te, Bakker, D.H. de, Devillé, W.L.J.M. Correctional health care for general practitioners: working circumstances, work satisfaction and burnout. In: 13th Wonca Europe Conference, Parijs, 17-20 oktober 2007. Abstract on CD-rom.
Aims: Working as a general practitioner (GP) within a correctional institution differs from working within a general population. Key characteristics such as direct accessibility, continuity of care and mutual trust between GP and patient are often absent. The current study aims to explore the ways in which these differences translate to the day-to-day work with inmates, and how they effect the working experience of GPs. Methods: During a one- or two week period, 36 GPs (response 94,7%) within 17 Dutch correctional institutions (constituting 30% of all such institutions in the Netherlands) registered a total of 1451 medical contacts. Additionally, extensive questionnaires were completed, including measures of experienced work load, job satisfaction and burnout. Multivariate analyses of variance was used to examine differences with regular GPs. Results: Over 25% of all medical contacts included psychological aspects, while social problems and addiction were present in another 25%. In 10% of their contacts, GPs indicated the encounter was highly demanding, mostly resulting from forceful/claiming inmate behaviour. Surprisingly, overall work satisfaction among GPs remained high, and burnout scores did not deviate from norm scores of professions outside the prison. Conclusions: Although working circumstances for GPs in prisons are indeed aggravating, they do not lead to a negative work experience. Perhaps this is because GPs employed in prisons often combine their work with a practice in the outside world. Nevertheless, a sizable amount of contacts are considered demanding by the GP. To ensure continued quality of health care in correctional facilities, these aspects should be monitored.