Abstract

Ulju-gun has poor medical care, the majority of people are in their 60s or older, and transportation is not convenient. We would like to propose ways to increase accessibility to medical institutions by exploring in depth the experiences of residents in Ulju-gun, using medical institutions in terms of transportation convenience. In this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 residents of Ulju-gun. Participants complained that there were clinics in the area they could go to if they had a mild illness, but that there was no medical institution they could go to if they had a moderate illness. When using public transportation to visit a medical institution, the time burden was significant, and when using their own car, they complained of financial burden and difficulties due to lack of parking facilities. Participants felt difficulties in using medical institutions and realized the importance of accessibility to medical institutions, and mentioned that in order to improve this, it was necessary to expand the routes and increase the operation of buses, a means of public transportation. This study is significant in that it explored in depth the experiences of residents living in areas with poor transportation infrastructure and used medical institutions, revealing the need for a multi-layered approach to accessibility to medical institutions.