Table 1.

Characteristics of the seven dimensions of candidacy

Dimension	Characteristics
Identification	Differential recognition of symptoms as needing medical attention. Vulnerable populations are more likely to manage health as a series of crises. ‘Evidence of lower use of preventive services and higher use of accident and emergency facilities, emergency admissions and out-of-hours use’ (Dixon-Woods et al. 2006: 12).
Navigation	Awareness of the services on offer; known to be reduced for vulnerable populations. Mobilisation of practical resources, e.g. time off work and transportation, which are typically less readily available to vulnerable populations.
Permeability of services	Services are more or less accessible (‘permeable’) depending on the qualifications of candidacy required to use them (e.g. a referral) and the degree to which resources need to be organised. Less permeable services ‘demand a higher degree of cultural alignment between themselves and their users’ (2006: 12).
Appearances at health services	Credibility once the client has presented at a health service depends on his/her competence in formulating and articulating the issue for which help is being sought.
Adjudications	Judgement calls made by the health professionals who clients initially consult. ‘Professional perceptions of the cultural and health capital required to convert a unit of health provision into a given unit of health gain may function as barriers to healthcare.…In addition, perceptions of social “deservingness” may play a role’ (2006: 13).
Offers and resistance	Resistance by patients to referrals and/or offers of medication.
Operating conditions	‘Locally-specific influences on interactions between practitioners and patients’. ‘The perceived or actual availability and suitability of resources to address [a claim to] candidacy’ (2006: 14).