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Social vulnerability and spatial inequality in access to healthcare facilities: The case of the Santiago Metropolitan Region (RMS), Chile

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Diana Maria Contreras Mojica, Professor Sean Wilkinson

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© 2023 The Authors. In Chile, the Metropolitan Region of Santiago (RMS) is exposed to several natural and anthropogenic hazards. This means that not only is there a constant need for healthcare, but also a significant increase whenever its inhabitants are affected by disasters. The RMS problem is not the lack of healthcare infrastructure; rather, the inequality in its spatial distribution, which does not consider the location of the most vulnerable population, who may have greater healthcare needs. In this paper, we have performed Pearson's correlation and multicollinearity analysis to select variables to include in the multiple regression analysis to identify the predictors of the number of healthcare facilities per commune in the RMS. Our research found that public healthcare facilities, average monthly income per person per commune, and population density predicts in a 74.1% the number of the total healthcare facilities per commune in the RMS. Network analysis allowed us to integrate distance-based and area-based approaches to spatially visualise the service area of the healthcare facilities in all the districts in the communes of the RMS according to three walking distances. Total coverage of service areas is observed only in 4% of the districts, while high and medium coverage is identified in 30%, low coverage is observed in 28% and 7% of districts are not covered at all. Those districts with low or non-coverage are mainly low-income and/or rural districts in the RMS communes.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Contreras D, Bhamidipati S, Wilkinson S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Socio-Economic Planning Sciences

Year: 2023

Volume: 90

Print publication date: 01/12/2023

Online publication date: 14/10/2023

Acceptance date: 05/10/2023

Date deposited: 08/11/2023

ISSN (print): 0038-0121

ISSN (electronic): 1873-6041

Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2023.101735

DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2023.101735

Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
ANID/FONDAP/15110017
AJ2200IN01
Cardiff University
EP/P025951/1
EPSRC
Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN)

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