Unpacking the role of transport inequalities among older adults for accessing healthcare in Bengaluru, India

Divya Sussana Patil, Ajay Bailey*, Sobin George, Martin Hyde, Lena Ashok

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Mobility, access to transport and healthcare play a crucial part in healthy ageing. However, these often posechallenges for older adults in the global South. This study applies the three concepts of ?motility? (access, competence and appropriation), to explore transport inequalities and barriers to access healthcare services for older adults in Bengaluru, India. The paper draws on interviews with sixty adults, aged 50 years and over, residing in urban Bengaluru. A semi-structured in-depth interview guide was employed to explore the transport inequalities. Applying thematic analysis, we present the mobility and transport barriers to access healthcare. Restricted access to healthcare services due to unavailable and unaffordable transportation resulted in missed appointments, delayed care and deterioration of health conditions. To cope with the barriers, older adults often visited less specialised clinics for regular check-ups and those with financial constraints resorted to self-medication. These actions further deteriorated health and led to adverse health outcomes. Our findings suggest that integrated health and transport policies must be designed to ensure equitable access to transportation services. Enabling older adults to have more independent lives and improve access to preventive healthcare is essential for better health outcomes.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2274438
Number of pages14
JournalGlobal Public Health
Volume18
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Funding

The inability of older adults to afford different transport modes, their poor physical health, gender (read women) and living on the periphery of the city increased inequalities in accessing transport modes. Those on a lower income usually reside in the urban periphery, as the rent/lease is affordable. However, this affected their access to transport to travel to essential services such as healthcare. A 66-year-old participant, Ratna, living with her husband (unwell) and son (not working), resides in the urban periphery due to affordable house rent and closeness to the workplace so that she can walk to work. She works as an English teacher at the nearby college where she is paid INR 150 (approximately US$ 2)/ hour. At present, she has no income because the college is closed and is financially supported by her well-wishers for basic needs. She suffers from diabetes mellitus and also underwent surgery for hernia during the COVID-19 pandemic. She must go to the city to access healthcare services for herself and her husband who is also suffering from a chronic illness. She faces difficulty in accessing buses near her house. She cannot take the auto everywhere because she has to save some money to buy medicines. She mostly walks to the bus stop near her house and if the bus is not available, sometimes takes an auto to the next bus stop near the main junction and takes the bus. Since her husband cannot travel, she must visit his previous workplace to claim partial medical insurance to pay off his medical bills. This process is very exhausting due to the lack of direct public transport and adds to the financial burden for her at this age when she herself has health issues.

FundersFunder number
Universiteit Utrecht
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk OnderzoekW 07.30318.003

    Keywords

    • Access to healthcare
    • mobility
    • older adults
    • transportation

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