Temporal availability of public health care in developing countries of the Caribbean: An improved two‐step floating catchment area method for estimating spatial accessibility to health care

Abstract

SummaryDue to restrictions on personnel availability, the service capacity at a health facility may vary day to day based on an established schedule. This temporal variability influences a user's choice set, modifying their possible choices. As a result, the spatial accessibility of public health care may be constantly reshaped rather than being a relatively static experience as commonly represented in place‐based spatial accessibility literature. Building on the latest advances in the two‐step floating catchment method, this study presents further advancements through the inclusion of health facility schedules to better represent health care availability in the assessment of accessibility. The results show that the proposed method reveals communities with relatively poor accessibility that are hidden with many existing methods. By exposing the available care within time windows, a more accurate picture of the services available to be accessed is revealed. The findings suggest that improvement in the number of doctor hours at health facilities may reduce the disparities found in accessibility scores for communities. Further, in public health care systems similarly structured, the spatial configuration of facilities with doctors can be considered at the administrative level to ensure adequate levels of access across the jurisdiction.

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