Interactive, open source, travel time scenario modelling: tools to facilitate participation in health service access analysis

Rohan Fisher,Jonatan Lassa

doi:10.1186/s12942-017-0086-8

Rohan Fisher, Jonatan Lassa

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-017-0086-8

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Abstract

BackgroundModelling travel time to services has become a common public health tool for planning service provision but the usefulness of these analyses is constrained by the availability of accurate input data and limitations inherent in the assumptions and parameterisation. This is particularly an issue in the developing world where access to basic data is limited and travel is often complex and multi-modal. Improving the accuracy and relevance in this context requires greater accessibility to, and flexibility in, travel time modelling tools to facilitate the incorporation of local knowledge and the rapid exploration of multiple travel scenarios. The aim of this work was to develop simple open source, adaptable, interactive travel time modelling tools to allow greater access to and participation in service access analysis.ResultsDescribed are three interconnected applications designed to reduce some of the barriers to the more wide-spread use of GIS analysis of service access and allow for complex spatial and temporal variations in service availability. These applications are an open source GIS tool-kit and two geo-simulation models. The development of these tools was guided by health service issues from a developing world context but they present a general approach to enabling greater access to and flexibility in health access modelling. The tools demonstrate a method that substantially simplifies the process for conducting travel time assessments and demonstrate a dynamic, interactive approach in an open source GIS format. In addition this paper provides examples from empirical experience where these tools have informed better policy and planning.ConclusionTravel and health service access is complex and cannot be reduced to a few static modeled outputs. The approaches described in this paper use a unique set of tools to explore this complexity, promote discussion and build understanding with the goal of producing better planning outcomes. The accessible, flexible, interactive and responsive nature of the applications described has the potential to allow complex environmental social and political considerations to be incorporated and visualised. Through supporting evidence-based planning the innovative modelling practices described have the potential to help local health and emergency response planning in the developing world.

Highlights

Modelling travel time to services has become a common public health tool for planning service provision but the usefulness of these analyses is constrained by the availability of accurate input data and limitations inherent in the assumptions and parameterisation
These analysis have been criticised for being developed in a top–down way that does not allow for the incorporation of qualitative data or individual experiences [10, 12]
These limitations have led to the value and utility of these forms of analysis being questioned when considered within a broader framework of health service provision that has to factor in a complex array of dynamic environmental, social and economic determinants [9, 12, 13]

Summary

Introduction

Modelling travel time to services has become a common public health tool for planning service provision but the usefulness of these analyses is constrained by the availability of accurate input data and limitations inherent in the assumptions and parameterisation This is an issue in the developing world where access to basic data is limited and travel is often complex and multi-modal. Along with new spatial analytical tools, it has been suggested that new geo-visualisation methods are needed to enable a more sophisticated evaluation of complex multidimensional travel with greater flexibility to facilitate the incorporation of local knowledge [8, 12, 15] These modelling tools are primarily available only in proprietary GIS or SDSS packages requiring considerable expertise to operate, and produce static outputs failing to capture the complexity of individual travel patterns [10, 16]. The lack of accessibility to, and flexibility of, these tools is an issue in the developing world where human and financial resources are limited, as is access to basic spatial data [17], travel is often complex and multi-modal [13]

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