Accessibility Problems among the Elderly Population to Health Services. The Case of Castilla y Leon (Spain)

The accessibility of the population to health resources is fundamental for social equity among the inhabitants of a territory. This accessibility is worst on the rural areas that, furthermore, are often older spaces and more demanding of health resources. In the case of Castilla y Leon, there are areas whose access to health resources is very limited due to the time that the population has to spend travelling to these resources. This study identifies the Basic Health Areas with accessibility problems and quantifies the time spent by the population of Castilla y Leon travelling to their reference hospitals, as well as their level of ageing. The results of this territorial analysis confirm that Basic Health Areas furthest from the hospitals correspond to rural areas with a high level of ageing, thus aggravating the problem of emptying of health services that rural areas have been experiencing since the 2008 crisis. This research can help to propose a reorganisation of health resources in Castilla y Leon and in other territories where this methodology could be applied, helping the rural population to have better access to them.