title: Optimising the location of antenatal classes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To combine microsimulation and location-allocation techniques to determine antenatal class locations which minimise the distance travelled from home by potential users.
  
  
  METHODS
  Microsimulation modeling and location-allocation modeling.
  
  
  METHODS
  City of Leeds, UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  Potential users of antenatal classes.
  
  
  METHODS
  An individual-level microsimulation model was built to estimate the number of births for small areas by combining data from the UK Census 2001 and the Health Survey for England 2006. Using this model as a proxy for service demand, we then used a location-allocation model to optimize locations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Different scenarios show the advantage of combining these methods to optimize (re)locating antenatal classes and therefore reduce inequalities in accessing services for pregnant women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of these techniques should lead to better use of resources by allowing planners to identify optimal locations of antenatal classes which minimise women's travel.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results are especially important for health-care planners tasked with the difficult issue of targeting scarce resources in a cost-efficient, but also effective or accessible, manner. (169 words).
authors.affiliation: Department of Geoinformation, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Europastrasse 4, 9524 Villach, Austria. m.tomintz@cuas.at
authors.forename: Melanie N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Tomintz
authors.forename: Graham P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Janette E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rigby
authors.forename: Josephine M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001723:Birth Rate; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D064186:Prenatal Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012931:Social Environment; D006113:United Kingdom