EQUITY OF ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE: THEORY & APLICATION IN RESEARCH

Abstract

Background: Equity of access to health services is a major challenge faced by many countries in the world. The gap in health status between developed and developing countries often occur. Including health inequalities between groups within a country. This study aimed to describe theory and application of the equity of access to health services in research. Methods: The literature review with systematic mapping studies related to equity of access to health services in some countries. It is conducted with a set of five research questions, there were 30 studies, from 1999 to 2014, were evaluated. Results: Equity in access to health services occurred when health services have been distributed according to geography, socio-economic and community needs, and vice versa. Empirical studies generally reported incidents of inequity of access to health services was influenced by various factors. Generally, researchers used secondary data in exploring equity of access to health services. Conclusion: Equity of access to health care is an important issue that needs to be addressed in achieving the goals of health systems. This can be achieved if health care is distributed according to geography, socio-economic and community needs. Both improvement of the supply side and the demand side also exploration studies of access to health services need to be developed. Keywords: Equity, Health Care, Theory, Research DOI: https://doi.org/10.26553/jikm.2016.7.2.73-80