ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 looks at the issue of healthcare access after disasters, one of the major questions of this research. It focuses on environmental factors (e.g. availability of local healthcare facilities and medical relief aid and accessibility of transport systems) and how these influence the healthcare access of victims, again drawing on respondents’ personal experiences. According to the investigation, environmental and behavioural factors are common contributors to healthcare inaccessibility in disasters, especially where socio-cultural and economic factors create highly significant differences among social groups. Considering their importance, socio-cultural factors and their complex inter-relations are elaborately described in the Chapter 6.
