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Evaluating Disparities in Elderly Community Care Resources: Using a Geographic Accessibility and Inequality Index

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  • Hui-Ching Wu

    (Department of Medical Sociology and Social Work, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
    Social Service Section, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan)

  • Ming-Hseng Tseng

    (Department of Medical Informatics, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402, Taiwan)

Abstract

This study evaluated geographic accessibility and utilized assessment indices to investigate disparities in elderly community care resource distribution. The data were derived from Taiwanese governmental data in 2017, including 3,148,283 elderly individuals (age 65+), 7681 villages, and 1941 community care centers. To identify disparities in geographic accessibility, we compared the efficacy of six measurements and proposed a composite index to identify levels of resource inequality from the Gini coefficient and “median-mean” skewness. Low village-level correlation (0.038) indicated inconsistencies between the demand populations and community care center distribution. Method M6 (calculated accessibility of nearest distance-decay accounting for population of villages, supplier loading, and elderly walkability) was identified as the most comprehensive disparity measurement. Community care policy assessment requires a comprehensive and weighted calculation process, including the elderly walkability distance-decay factor, demand population, and supplier loading. Three steps were suggested for elderly policy planning and improvement in future.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui-Ching Wu & Ming-Hseng Tseng, 2018. "Evaluating Disparities in Elderly Community Care Resources: Using a Geographic Accessibility and Inequality Index," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:7:p:1353-:d:154914
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erja Portegijs & Kirsi E. Keskinen & Li-Tang Tsai & Taina Rantanen & Merja Rantakokko, 2017. "Physical Limitations, Walkability, Perceived Environmental Facilitators and Physical Activity of Older Adults in Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1979. "Relative Deprivation and the Gini Coefficient," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(2), pages 321-324.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lei Zhu & Shuang Zhong & Wei Tu & Jing Zheng & Shenjing He & Junzhe Bao & Cunrui Huang, 2019. "Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Medical Resources at the Community Level in Shenzhen, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Hui-Chuan Hsu & Jersey Liang & Dih-Ling Luh & Chen-Fen Chen & Ying-Wei Wang, 2019. "Social Determinants and Disparities in Active Aging Among Older Taiwanese," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Ming-Hseng Tseng & Hui-Ching Wu, 2021. "Accessibility Assessment of Community Care Resources Using Maximum-Equity Optimization of Supply Capacity Allocation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Hiranya Sritart & Kuson Tuntiwong & Hiroyuki Miyazaki & Somchat Taertulakarn, 2021. "Disparities in Healthcare Services and Spatial Assessments of Mobile Health Clinics in the Border Regions of Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Hao Zhu, 2022. "Spatial Matching and Policy-Planning Evaluation of Urban Elderly Care Facilities Based on Multi-Agent Simulation: Evidence from Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Wei, Zhongyu & Bai, Jianjun & Feng, Ruitao, 2022. "Evaluating the spatial accessibility of medical resources taking into account the residents' choice behavior of outpatient and inpatient medical treatment," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Chia-Mei Shih & Yu-Hua Wang & Li-Fan Liu & Jung-Hua Wu, 2020. "Profile of Long-Term Care Recipients Receiving Home and Community-Based Services and the Factors That Influence Utilization in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Jui-che Tu & Kang-Chi Lin & Hong-Yi Chen, 2020. "Investigating the Relationship between the Third Places and the Level of Happiness for Seniors in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-11, February.
    9. White-Means, Shelley & Gaskin, Darrell J. & Osmani, Ahmad Reshad, 2019. "Intervention and Public Policy Pathways to Achieve Health Care Equity," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 16(14), pages 1-11.
    10. Shirui Liu & Yaochen Qin & Yanan Xu, 2019. "Inequality and Influencing Factors of Spatial Accessibility of Medical Facilities in Rural Areas of China: A Case Study of Henan Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-16, May.
    11. Ming-Hseng Tseng & Hui-Ching Wu, 2021. "Integrating Socioeconomic Status and Spatial Factors to Improve the Accessibility of Community Care Resources Using Maximum-Equity Optimization of Supply Capacity Allocation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-25, May.
    12. Hui-Ching Wu & Ming-Hseng Tseng & Chuan-Chao Lin, 2020. "Assessment on Distributional Fairness of Physical Rehabilitation Resource Allocation: Geographic Accessibility Analysis Integrating Google Rating Mechanism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-21, October.
    13. Zongni Gu & Xiaolong Luo & Yanru Chen & Xiaoman Liu & Chenrui Xiao & Yifan Liang, 2022. "Density, Diversity, and Design: Evaluating the Equity of the Elderly Communities in Three Measures of the Built Environment," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Jiangjun Wan & Yutong Zhao & Kaili Zhang & Chunchi Ma & Haiying Sun & Ziming Wang & Hongyu Wu & Mingjie Li & Lingqing Zhang & Xiaohong Tang & Ying Cao & Li Tang & Jinxiu Yang, 2022. "Healthy Community-Life Circle Planning Combining Objective Measurement and Subjective Evaluation: Theoretical and Empirical Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-25, April.
    15. Zhenwei Wang & Xiaochun Wang & Zijin Dong & Lisan Li & Wangjun Li & Shicheng Li, 2023. "More Urban Elderly Care Facilities Should Be Placed in Densely Populated Areas for an Aging Wuhan of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, January.

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