More Women than Men Find UHS Unacceptable

A recent survey shows that more women that men are dissatisfied with the University Health Services (UHS).

The survey, supervised last Spring by Stanley H. King, director of Research to the UHS, is the first comprehensive study on student reaction to the health services. It covered a 10 percent random sample of the undergraduate student body. Of the 512 respondents, 23 per cent were women.

"The thing that interested me the most is the question of satisfaction with UHS, especially the difference between men and women. Women seem to be less satisfied with us." King, who is also a clinical psychologist at the UHS, said last week.

Although the survey showed that 56 per cent of all respondents were satisfied with the treatment at the UHS, 24 per cent of the women had "negative reactions" as compared with only 11 per cent of the men.

The statistics also indicated that women were less likely than men to say they would go to the UHS for some of the "social symptoms" like venereal disease, sterility and drug use.

One of the most striking findings of the report showed that 69 per cent of the students felt that UHS did not provide adequate sources of information about the services it offers to students.

Here again the women proved themselves the more dissatisfied as 81 per cent criticized the UHS for inadequate information in com- parison with 65 percent of the male respondents.

The vast majority of women (65 percent) did not know, for example, if abortion counseling is provided by UHS.

"It is possible that the greater negative reaction to UHS by women is related to the matter of information," the study suggested.

In response to this need for more information about health services, the UHS has written a booklet containing a full description of health services and how to use them. It will be distributed to all undergraduates at registration.

The study also indicated that a majority of students feel that the doctors at the UHS lack personal interest in their patient's cases. And another 77 percent complained that the walk-in clinic is "usually so crowded that a long wait is inevitable."

To remedy these problems, the study recommends "altering some of the UHS procedures or staff behavior" as well as emphasizing to the staff the importance of the doctor-patient relationship.

It also recognizes the "special problems" the UHS has in helping women, especially the need for "personal concern and nonmoralistic reactions by the doctor in matters that involve sexual behavior or gynecological services."

The study also found that 92 percent of the student body has visited UHS at some time.

The 37-question study, conducted by six juniors in King's honors tutorial in Social Relations, was undertaken for the information of the UHS and will not be published for general distribution.Dr. STANLEY H. KING, director of Research to the UHS