A geographic assessment of ‘total’ health care supply in Ontario: complementary and alternative medicine and conventional medicine

Abstract

A geographic assessment of 'total' health care supply in Ontario 105 in the province. CM specialization is rarer and is biased towards the more populated municipalities. Third, a Spearman's correlation analysis suggests that CAM and CM health care supply are associated with community well-being indictors and urban density measures. Key words: complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), health care, physicians, medical geography province canadienne d'Ontario. L'analyse est réalisée en trois temps. Primo, les tendances géographiques des nombres d'opérations par habitant pratiquées par les cliniques spécialisées en MCP et en MC indiquent que, même si on observe des différences régionales, la MCP se distingue de la MC principalement par une distribution pluséquilibrée dans le continuum urbain/rural. Secundo, les quotients de localisation et une analyse de l'autocorrélation spatiale locale montrent que quelques municipalités, en particulier celles qui sont situées dans les parties sud-ouest et centre-sud de la province, se démarquent des autres par les cliniques spécialisées en MCP. L'élément spatial le plus remarquable est un « agrégat de 81 municipalités MCP », ce qui constitue sans doute le summum de la MCPà l'échelle provinciale. La spécialisation de la MC se présente plutôt comme un phénomène d'exception et favorise surtout les municipalités plus populeuses. Tertio, les résultats d'un test de corrélation de Spearman laissent entendre que l'offre de soins en MCP et en MC est corrélée aux indicateurs de bien-être communautaire età la densité urbaine. Mots clés: médecine complémentaire et parallèle, soins de santé, médecins, géographie médicale

A spatial analysis of the geographic distribution of musculoskeletal and general practice healthcare clinics in Auckland, New Zealand

“…Where primarily privately-funded, market-driven healthcare resources are concerned, previous studies have shown that as economic prosperity increases, so does the likelihood that the area will have a higher per capita level of privately-funded healthcare supply (Kruger et al, 2012;Meyer, 2009), and while the results of the analysis conducted here broadly indicate that the inverse may be also true in the case of osteopathic clinics, further research is required to determine if this is the case.…”

“…The results of this analysis were merged with digital maps containing census-derived attributes of the area, such as average incomes, employment rates and population density, before Spearman's correlation analyses of the relationship between clinic distribution and social aspects of the environment were measured. The results of this study suggested that as economic prosperity increased, so did the likelihood that the area would have a higher per capita level of CAM healthcare supply (Meyer, 2009). A limitation of this study is that the geographic units of measurement reported are census subdivisions, which are essentially municipalities (Meyer, 2009).…”

“…The results of this study suggested that as economic prosperity increased, so did the likelihood that the area would have a higher per capita level of CAM healthcare supply (Meyer, 2009). A limitation of this study is that the geographic units of measurement reported are census subdivisions, which are essentially municipalities (Meyer, 2009). …”

“…As a result, areas with high levels of economic prosperity may provide better markets for CAM services which typically require out-of-pocket payments. In Meyer's (2009) study, the GIS-based Global and Local Moran's I statistics were utilised to determine if CAM (chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, homeopathic and naturopathic) clinics in Ontario, Canada were significantly clustered or dispersed in their spatial distribution. The results of this analysis were merged with digital maps containing census-derived attributes of the area, such as average incomes, employment rates and population density, before Spearman's correlation analyses of the relationship between clinic distribution and social aspects of the environment were measured.…”

A Spatial Analysis of Acupuncture Practitioners in Ontario, Canada: Assessing Regional and Intra-Metropolitan Trends

“…Collectively these CSDs display a provincial pattern that provides further evidence that the location choices of acupuncture office practitioners are, in some ways, distinguishable from the more general CAM situation. Meyer (2010) found that CAM specialization in Ontario was wide-spread and prevalent in all four provincial districts and quite evenly distribution across the urban-peripheral continuum (in comparison to conventional medical offices). In contrast, it is very rare for communities to specialize in acupuncture.…”