Gelsomina Montana

It is important to be able to locate areas that experience low spatial accessibility to healthcare services as well as low socioeconomic status, also known as healthcare deserts. This study examines the spatial patterns and characteristics of healthcare deserts within the Toronto CMA, while investigating if socioeconomic inequalities exist between those living in healthcare deserts, and those who do not. This study identifies healthcare deserts by employing a geodemographic segmentation model that incorporates spatial accessibility scores generated from the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method. Five segmentation models were generated, and the optimal model consisting of ten segmentations was selected. An additive index is then developed in order to quantitatively identify healthcare deserts, and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is used to determine the presence of socioeconomic differences between healthcare deserts and non-healthcare deserts. The study reveals that healthcare deserts are present in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), specifically in North York, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, and Uxbridge, impacting approximately 22% of the CMA population. Additionally, significant differences are revealed between healthcare deserts and nonhealthcare deserts for both demographic characteristics and spatial accessibility to healthcare services. Healthcare deserts have decreased spatial accessibility and a high proportion of vulnerable population groups. The geodemographic approach to identifying healthcare deserts proves to be successful and demonstrates neighbourhoods in need of increased healthcare service provision.