An integrated geo-spatial approach of access to public healthcare services and socio-economic analyses

Access to health services requires a multidimensional analysis inside a holistic perspective. Such a multidimensional analysis responds to the needs of a more pluralist health geography framework and to the “cultural turn” that studies of health accessibility are experiencing nowadays (Hawthorne & Kwan 2012). This cultural turn needs to be reflected through a clear wellbeing conceptual framework, which should combine deprivation/satisfaction indicators with spatial accessibility measures. When considering healthcare accessibility as a multidimensional concept, taking into consideration the perceptions of patients can be a useful approach to understanding healthcare access inequalities (Comber et al., 2011). This PhD research will fill different gaps between qualitative and quantitative studies in order to present new mixed-method approaches to the scientific community and to support healthcare and urban planning. The main objective of this PhD are: (a) developing a spatial composite deprivation index related to health issues; (b) developing composite indices related to healthcare accessibility and healthcare satisfaction, and (c) developing a model of accessibility to healthcare services.