Abstract
BackgroundProviding palliative care is a growing priority for health service administrators worldwide as the populations of many nations continue to age rapidly. In many countries, palliative care services are presently inadequate and this problem will be exacerbated in the coming years. The provision of palliative care, moreover, has been piecemeal in many jurisdictions and there is little distinction made at present between levels of service provision. There is a pressing need to determine which populations do not enjoy access to specialized palliative care services in particular.MethodsCatchments around existing specialized palliative care services in the Canadian province of British Columbia were calculated based on real road travel time. Census block face population counts were linked to postal codes associated with road segments in order to determine the percentage of the total population more than one hour road travel time from specialized palliative care.ResultsWhilst 81% of the province's population resides within one hour from at least one specialized palliative care service, spatial access varies greatly by regional health authority. Based on the definition of specialized palliative care adopted for the study, the Northern Health Authority has, for instance, just two such service locations, and well over half of its population do not have reasonable spatial access to such care.ConclusionStrategic location analysis methods must be developed and used to accurately locate future palliative services in order to provide spatial access to the greatest number of people, and to ensure that limited health resources are allocated wisely. Improved spatial access has the potential to reduce travel-times for patients, for palliative care workers making home visits, and for travelling practitioners. These methods are particularly useful for health service planners – and provide a means to rationalize their decision-making. Moreover, they are extendable to a number of health service allocation problems.
Highlights
Providing palliative care is a growing priority for health service administrators worldwide as the populations of many nations continue to age rapidly
The present study examines the spatial accessibility of palliative care services for the residents of British Columbia (BC) by employing a novel spatial analysis approach using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
According to our working definition at the time of the analysis there were 29 locations where specialized palliative care (SPC) was delivered in BC and three new locations slated to open in the near future
Summary
Providing palliative care is a growing priority for health service administrators worldwide as the populations of many nations continue to age rapidly. Palliative care services are presently inadequate and this problem will be exacerbated in the coming years. There is a pressing need to determine which populations do not enjoy access to specialized palliative care services in particular. In many countries, existing palliative care service delivery is inadequate and challenged by population aging, resulting in strained services that are increasingly unable to keep up with demand [1,2,3,4]. As a result of these factors, health systems in Canada and worldwide are starting to recognize the need for improved palliative care delivery [6,10,12,13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
