Measuring spatial accessibility to healthcare services for older adults: a case study for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

The aging population poses a challenge to the provision of healthcare worldwide. By 2050, older people are expected to outnumber younger individuals, leading to an increase in demand for healthcare services due to chronic diseases. This study sought to examine the level of pedestrian accessibility of different age groups (65–69, 70–74, and 75 + years old) to primary healthcare centers in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). An integrated Floating Catchment Area (iFCA) approach was performed in GIS, considering a variable distance decay function and the spatial distribution of the population and health centers in the LMA. The results revealed that the municipality of Setúbal has the highest accessibility level in the LMA, while Loures has the lowest. Despite having a substantial number of healthcare units, the city of Lisbon also has a low accessibility level. Future work could incorporate public.