Abstract

This research work presents a literature review about the importance of the consideration of spatial equity in health care. Despite the fact that this issue has gained attention in the recent years, even today there still are significant differences between countries and between regions within a country. The general observed pattern is that those people with the greatest needs for medical care are the least probable to receive a high standard of services. In order to avoid this, and therefore get an equitable health care, it is important to account for these differences. When defining equity, a lot of dimensions have been considered. In this sense, a big amount of research has been focused on aspects related to finance, others have paid attention to differences due to gender, race, etc. However, less research exists related to the disparities concerning geographical aspects. In this research we will consider that dimension of equity. Therefore, the objective of it is to, according to the main existing literature, analyse the importance of Spatial Equity (SE) in the delivery of health care.