Accessibility evaluation of healthcare facilities in a city under the background of population aging / 现代医院

ABSTRACT

Objective To provide a scientific benchmark for the era of population aging and improve the medical care environment for the elderly in terms of hospital facility accessibility.Methods A random sampling method was used to select 375 individuals from 10 healthcare institutions in a specified city as survey participants from December 2022 to February 2023.A total of 375 questionnaires titled"Comprehensive Rating Scale for Patient Experience in Medical Facilities(Accessibility Category)"were distributed among the participants,with 356 valid responses received and subjected to reliability and validity assessments.The questionnaire included 6 accessibility indicators,each rated from 1 to 10,to evaluate the accessibility level of healthcare fa-cilities.The acquired data was analyzed using the Rank Sum Ratio method and the Four Quadrants model.Results The average score for building accessibility in the city's medical institutions was 35.86,with several indicators at a moderate level,indicating a need for an improvement of the facility accessibility.Meanwhile,the economic operational status of various medical institutions appeared to influence the implementation of accessibility features,which also correlated with local government construction plan-ning,staff awareness of accessible infrastructure,and other factors.Conclusion Medical facilities in cities could implement bar-rier-free modifications in parking,toilets,and other areas,improve the use of accessible AI technology,and develop intelligent medical scenarios in order to meet the challenges of an aging society,improve the medical care quality for the elderly,and reduce social security cost.The governments should accelerate the improvement of supportive policies and regulations and bolster support for the accessibility enhancements.Higher education and research institutions can collaborate with healthcare providers for innova-tive integration of industry academia,research,and application,fostering the conversion of research into practical solutions.