Federico Benassi, Cecilia Tomassini, Giuseppe Di Felice
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
There are significant disparities in health care resources across different regions of Italy, particularly between the centre-north and the south. Public health care spending is notably lower in southern Italy. As a result, health related migration is a major phenomenon, with many individuals traveling to other regions - especially from the south to the centre-north - to receive better medical care, particularly for serious illnesses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, health migration declined significantly, underscoring the crucial role of local and regional health care systems in responding to external shocks. This study examines health care accessibility for older people at municipality level in three regions: Lombardy (northern Italy), Tuscany (central Italy), and Molise (southern Italy). It assesses inequalities in health care supply and demand and evaluates regional health care system responses using the Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method. Health care accessibility varies considerably across these regions. While Lombardy and Tuscany generally offer high accessibility, Molise faces significant challenges. A substantial proportion of older residents in rural areas of Molise have no access to health care facilities within a 30-minute travel time. This disparity may contribute to inequalities in local health care access, potentially leading to severe consequences for the health and well-being of the older population.
期刊介绍：
Description
The journal has an applied focus: it actively promotes the importance of geographical research in real world settings
It is policy-relevant: it seeks both a readership and contributions from practitioners as well as academics
The substantive foundation is spatial analysis: the use of quantitative techniques to identify patterns and processes within geographic environments
The combination of these points, which are fully reflected in the naming of the journal, establishes a unique position in the marketplace.
RationaleA geographical perspective has always been crucial to the understanding of the social and physical organisation of the world around us. The techniques of spatial analysis provide a powerful means for the assembly and interpretation of evidence, and thus to address critical questions about issues such as crime and deprivation, immigration and demographic restructuring, retailing activity and employment change, resource management and environmental improvement. Many of these issues are equally important to academic research as they are to policy makers and Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy aims to close the gap between these two perspectives by providing a forum for discussion of applied research in a range of different contexts
Topical and interdisciplinaryIncreasingly government organisations, administrative agencies and private businesses are requiring research to support their ‘evidence-based’ strategies or policies. Geographical location is critical in much of this work which extends across a wide range of disciplines including demography, actuarial sciences, statistics, public sector planning, business planning, economics, epidemiology, sociology, social policy, health research, environmental management.
FocusApplied Spatial Analysis and Policy will draw on applied research from diverse problem domains, such as transport, policing, education, health, environment and leisure, in different international contexts. The journal will therefore provide insights into the variations in phenomena that exist across space, it will provide evidence for comparative policy analysis between domains and between locations, and stimulate ideas about the translation of spatial analysis methods and techniques across varied policy contexts. It is essential to know how to measure, monitor and understand spatial distributions, many of which have implications for those with responsibility to plan and enhance the society and the environment in which we all exist.
Readership and Editorial BoardAs a journal focused on applications of methods of spatial analysis, Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy will be of interest to scholars and students in a wide range of academic fields, to practitioners in government and administrative agencies and to consultants in private sector organisations. The Editorial Board reflects the international and multidisciplinary nature of the journal.
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