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Multimodal Accessibility to Primary Health Services for the Elderly: A Case Study of Naples, Italy

Author

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  • Gerardo Carpentieri

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Carmen Guida

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Houshmand E. Masoumi

    (Center for Technology and Society, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

In Europe, the share of people aged 65 years and above is expected to increase exponentially, and in 2050, for the first time in human history, the number of older people will be larger than the number of children under the age of 15. Aging is associated with increased vulnerability and dependence on medical care services. For these reasons, providing access to health services to people aged 65 years and over is crucial. From the perspective of social equity, everyone should have the opportunity to access healthcare services equally, but due to economic and geographical issues, achieving this level of equity is challenging. The aim of this study was to fill the gap between scientific and actual practices using an accessibility measure to evaluate urban accessibility to primary healthcare services and to support decision-makers to better allocate resources in local restructuring of welfare policies. The accessibility measure was designed considering both the land use and the transportation components, the local healthcare supply system, and a multimodal transportation network. The methodology was applied to the city of Naples considering Local Health Agency (ASL) healthcare services to the elderly. The ASL is the largest health agency in Europe, consisting of 17 buildings serving nearly 200,000 elderly. The results show that the entire elderly neighborhood population suffers from poor accessibility to primary health services, especially in the city suburbs, and that the methodology could be effectively applied to urban planning strategies to achieve a high quality of life for elderly people. Due to poor dialogue between the authorities, this could help to improve the decision-making process through the lens of social equity.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerardo Carpentieri & Carmen Guida & Houshmand E. Masoumi, 2020. "Multimodal Accessibility to Primary Health Services for the Elderly: A Case Study of Naples, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:781-:d:311413
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Jinling Sui & Tao Lin & Guoqin Zhang & Hong Ye & Meixia Lin & Hongkai Geng & Yukui Zhang, 2023. "Equity and Driving Factors of Medical Service Supply–Demand Balance for the Elderly in Rapidly Urbanized Communities Based on Big Data Analysis—A Case Study of Xiamen City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Michela Tiboni & Silvia Rossetti & David Vetturi & Vincenza Torrisi & Francesco Botticini & Marco Domenico Schaefer, 2021. "Urban Policies and Planning Approaches for a Safer and Climate Friendlier Mobility in Cities: Strategies, Initiatives and Some Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Dan Zhao & Liu Shao & Jianwei Li & Lina Shen, 2024. "Spatial-Performance Evaluation of Primary Health Care Facilities: Evidence from Xi’an, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Xiaodong Di & Lijian Wang & Xiuliang Dai & Liu Yang, 2020. "Assessing the Accessibility of Home-Based Healthcare Services for the Elderly: A Case from Shaanxi Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Sánchez-Mateos, Héctor Martínez & Ruiz Pulpón, Ángel Raúl, 2025. "The challenge of access to healthcare services as a condition for territorial equity. A methodological approach for sparsely populated rural areas," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    7. Bahare Moradi & Rojin Akbari & Seyedeh Reyhaneh Taghavi & Farnaz Fardad & Abdulsalam Esmailzadeh & Mohammad Zia Ahmadi & Sina Attarroshan & Fatemeh Nickravesh & Jamal Jokar Arsanjani & Mehdi Amirkhani, 2023. "A Scenario-Based Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision-Making System for Urban Environment Quality Assessment: Case Study of Tehran," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-24, August.
    8. Kan Wang & Jianjun Bai & Xing Dang, 2020. "Spatial Difference and Equity Analysis for Accessibility to Three-Level Medical Services Based on Actual Medical Behavior in Shaanxi, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-20, December.

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