IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i7p1353-d154914.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1353/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1353/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hugh Gravelle & Matt Sutton, 2009. "Income, relative income, and self‐reported health in Britain 1979–2000," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 125-145, February.
    2. Alain Chateauneuf & Patrick Moyes, 2005. "Lorenz non-consistent welfare and inequality measurement," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 2(2), pages 61-87, January.
    3. Oded Stark & Franz Rendl & Marcin Jakubek, 2012. "The merger of populations, the incidence of marriages, and aggregate unhappiness," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 331-344, April.
    4. Oded Stark & Wiktor Budzinski, 2021. "A social‐psychological reconstruction of Amartya Sen’s measures of inequality and social welfare," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(4), pages 552-566, November.
    5. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio, 2018. "Economic inequality and subjective well-being across the world," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-170, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/vbu6kd1s68o6r34k5bcm3iopv is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Duclos, Jean-Yves, 2006. "Liberté ou égalité?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 82(4), pages 441-476, décembre.
    8. Hanna Dudek & Joanna Landmesser, 2012. "Income satisfaction and relative deprivation," Statistics in Transition new series, Główny Urząd Statystyczny (Polska), vol. 13(2), pages 321-334, June.
    9. Maite Blázquez & Elena Cottini & Ainhoa Herrarte, 2014. "The socioeconomic gradient in health: how important is material deprivation?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 239-264, June.
    10. Maite Blázquez Cuesta & Santiago Budría, 2014. "Deprivation and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Panel Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 655-682, December.
    11. Oded Stark & Walter Hyll & Yong Wang, 2012. "Endogenous Selection of Comparison Groups, Human Capital Formation, and Tax Policy," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(313), pages 62-75, January.
    12. Pak, Tae-Young, 2023. "Relative deprivation and financial risk taking✰," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    13. Maite Blázquez & Santiago Budría, 2018. "The Effects of Over-indebtedness on Individual Health," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 227(4), pages 103-131, December.
    14. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio, 2017. "Living conditions and well-being: Evidence from African countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-209, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Stark, Oded, 2012. "Integration, social distress, and policy formation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 318-321.
    16. Alain Chateauneuf & Patrick Moyes, 2002. "Measuring inequality without the Pigou-Dalton condition," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00156475, HAL.
    17. Bossert, Walter & D’Ambrosio, Conchita, 2014. "Proximity-sensitive individual deprivation measures," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 125-128.
    18. Bossert, Walter & D'Ambrosio, Conchita, 2006. "Reference groups and individual deprivation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 421-426, March.
    19. Mathenge, Mary K. & Smale, Melinda & Olwande, John, 2012. "The Impact of Maize Hybrids on Income, Poverty, and Inequality among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya," Food Security International Development Working Papers 146931, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    20. Elena Bárcena-Martín & Luis Imedio-Olmedo & Guillermina Martín-Reyes, 2007. "Inequality and deprivation within and between groups: An illustration of European union countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 5(3), pages 323-337, December.
    21. Rashida Haq, 1999. "Income Inequality and Economic Welfare. A Decomposition Analysis for the Household Sector in Pakistan," PIDE-Working Papers 1999:170, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:7:p:1353-:d:154914. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.