Improving access to hospital services in Tha Mai district, Chanthaburi province, Thailand | |
| Author | Evangelista, Rafael G. |
| Call Number | AIT RSPR no. HS-92-01 |
| Subject(s) | Health facilities--Thailand--Chanthaburi--Location Health services administration--Thailand--Chanthaburi |
| Note | A Research Study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirments for the degree of Master of Science, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Research studies project report ; no. HS-92-01 |
| Abstract | Among the development issues that decision makers at lower levels of government face is how to allocate scarce resources j ud ic: ious ly. Limited capacity a.nd resources make it imperative that practical resource allocation methodologies have to be developed and applied to enable society to gain from the available resources at its utmost. For this Research, the basic issue tackled was where to loca.te a health resource (i . e. hospita.l facility) which would improve the reach of the health deliver·y system of Tha Mai District, Chantaburi Province, Thailand. A brief literature review indicated, among others, that while physical accessibility is not the only factor which influence the uti 1izat ion of heal th services, it is a ma.j or deter·minant. Meanwhile, the house hold survey revealed that many of the respondents presently spent one- hour travel to avail of 1-1ospital services. Also, drawing equidistant 1 ines relative to the existing hospitals manifest that only 90 of the 205 villages (or about 44 percent) ar e within a 30- minute travel distant from a hospital. In terms of population coverage, it only registers a service cover of around 34 percent of the total population. A one - hour isochrone, meanwhile, would cover 74 percent of the total villages. The foregoing indicates, among others, the need for further improvement. Consequently, t he study formulated a number of alterna.tives, determined its effect and compared the results to several decision rules to determine preferred alternatives. For instance, among the er i ter ion used was the desire to increase total population coverage within a 30-minute travel time . This led to the selection of the alternative which proposes a hospital in Nayaiam . A choice based on the same decision rule but with an added condition that it be located in the subdistrict of Gaeng Hang Maew (GHM) would promote a hospital in Chong Kapad. Meanwhile, if the desire was to have the maximum number of villages covered, then Nong Waen Hospital in Kraja.e would be preferred. If the choice is 1imi ted to GHM, then Chong Kapad would still be recommended. Another approach used was to decide or select on the basis of highest net increa.se in population covered . In this ca.se, either Nayaiam or Nong Waen of Krajae responded well to the er i terion . Aga.in, if 1imi ted to GHM, Chong Kapad Hospital would still be proposed . Another set of alternative formulated involved a hospital project combined with a major road upgrading project. In this case, of the three (3) alternatives formulated, Nong Waen of Kraj a.e manifested the largest population and villages coverage as well as net increase in population coverage. In other words, Nong Waen came out as the preferred in all three (3) different decision rules . Note: This Resea.rch study was completed as part of the requirement for the SPRING (Asia) Programme. SPRING, an acronym for Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies, is an M. Sc. programme jointly offered at AIT and the University of Dortmund, Germany. Under the SPRI NG Programme, a Research Study carrying 12 credits, must be conceptualized and completed within only one term, i.e. from 1 January to 31 March. Preferably, the topic should be related to the preceding District Development Planning Workshop . The SPRING Programme thus, differs from other M. Sc. programmes a.t AIT where most students write a thesis which spans at least 8 months. |
| Year | 1992 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Research studies project report ; no. HS-92-01 |
| Type | Research Study Project Report (RSPR) |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Human Settlement (HS) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kammeier, H. Detlef; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Routray, Jayant K.;Wickramanayake, B.W.E.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Deutsche Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD); |
| Degree | Research Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1992 |