The impact of patient-centred care on the relationship between access to care and subjective health outcomes amongst people experiencing homelessness: A mediation analysis.

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) have stated that impersonal care and feelings of discrimination are barriers to accessing healthcare which is associated with poor health outcomes amongst PEH. This study examined whether patient-centred care (PCC) mediates the relationship between access to care and subjective health outcomes. Using the 2014-15 Healthcare Center Patient Survey, we identified 1873 homeless and vulnerably housed adults. Items related to the delay or inability to receive primary or mental healthcare, PCC provided by healthcare providers, general health status, and the Kessler-6 psychological distress scale were selected. Ordinary least squares analyses were used to perform mediation analysis. We found that both access to primary care and access to mental healthcare were positively associated with physical health status (β = 0.492, p < 0.001; β = 0.311, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with psychological distress (β = -2.53, p < 0.001; β = -1.85, p < 0.001). PCC partially mediated all associations, but the mediation was stronger in the relationships between access to primary care and health outcomes (ab = 0.25, 95% CI [0.002, 0.052]; ab = -0.21, 95% CI [-0.37, -0.07]) compared to mental healthcare (ab = 0.02, 95% CI [0.01, 0.04]; ab = -0.14, 95% CI [-0.25, -0.06]). The results of this study indicated access to primary and mental healthcare is important in the patient-centred health outcomes of PEH. Additionally, the partial mediation of PCC in these relationships indicated that participants' perception of collaborative, trustworthy, respectful care from healthcare providers impacted the relationship between access to healthcare and health outcomes.