A multi-objective optimisation approach for the location of a public primary health facility
Date
2018
Authors
Moche, Lehlohonolo
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Abstract
The location allocation decisions for hospitals and clinics are essential to communities. Ensuring
that these facilities are rstly, accessible to patient populations and secondly, equitably distributed
such that each patient population travels equal or similar distances to their nearest facility is important
to urban planning and development. This study thus developed a multi-objective optimisation
approach to locate public primary care facilities such that the objectives of accessibility and equity
are achieved. The rst model formulated the accessibility objective using the p-median location
problem and the equity objective using the p-center problem. The second model formulated the
accessibility objective using the p-median problem and the coverage objective using the maximal
coverage location problem. The trade-o s between the accessibility and equity objectives were
investigated and mapped on a Pareto frontier. In the rst model it was found that there was a
possible trade-o between accessibility and equity, because as equity increased, accessibility decreased.
In the second model it was found that there was a trade-o between accessibility and
equity until a speci c maximum allowable distance value between a facility and the demand points
it serves, thereafter a trade-o no longer existed, because as equity increased, access increased for
those demand points covered at the expense of those demand points not covered
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of
the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science in
Engineering (Industrial)
December 2018
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Citation
Moche, Lehlohonolo (2018) A multi-objective optimization approach for the location of a public primary healthcare facility, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/28282>