Volume 26, Issue 2 (8-2026)
Social Welfare Quarterly 2026, 26(2): 0-0 |
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Saberifar R, Sadeghipour S. (2026). Perceived Social Justice in Social Security Organization Healthcare Centers in Mashhad: Spatial Accessibility and Factors Associated with Justice Perceptions. Social Welfare Quarterly. 26(2), : 5
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4529-en.html
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4529-en.html
Abstract: (482 Views)
Introduction: Conflicts and tensions between healthcare personnel and service users remain a persistent challenge within health systems, imposing social and economic costs. Many originate from perceived inequality, lack of fairness, and injustice in healthcare service delivery. Social justice, particularly its procedural and distributive dimensions, influences institutional trust, patient satisfaction, and conflict mitigation. This study aimed to analyze spatial accessibility to Social Security healthcare facilities in Mashhad and identify determinants of perceived social justice among service users.
Method: This descriptive–analytical study included 300 users of two Social Security hospitals in Mashhad. Data were collected through field observations and a structured questionnaire. Spatial accessibility was evaluated using the P-Median model in a GIS environment, while multivariate linear regression in SPSS was used to examine the factors associated with perceived social justice.
Findings: Only two Social Security hospitals serve Mashhad, requiring a substantial proportion of the urban population to incur considerable temporal and financial costs to access their services. More than one-third of respondents reported low perceived social justice. Regression analysis indicated that trust in staff competence, educational attainment, perceived fairness, and sense of security were positively associated with perceived social justice, whereas social alienation and residential location were negatively associated with it. Collectively, these variables explained 53% of the variance in perceived social justice.
Discussion: Institutional and perceptual factors, particularly trust in healthcare personnel, perceived fairness, and sense of security, demonstrated greater explanatory importance than spatial factors. Although spatial analysis revealed geographic concentration and accessibility constraints, improving service quality, enhancing transparency, and strengthening procedural justice may substantially mitigate tensions and improve service-user satisfaction.
Method: This descriptive–analytical study included 300 users of two Social Security hospitals in Mashhad. Data were collected through field observations and a structured questionnaire. Spatial accessibility was evaluated using the P-Median model in a GIS environment, while multivariate linear regression in SPSS was used to examine the factors associated with perceived social justice.
Findings: Only two Social Security hospitals serve Mashhad, requiring a substantial proportion of the urban population to incur considerable temporal and financial costs to access their services. More than one-third of respondents reported low perceived social justice. Regression analysis indicated that trust in staff competence, educational attainment, perceived fairness, and sense of security were positively associated with perceived social justice, whereas social alienation and residential location were negatively associated with it. Collectively, these variables explained 53% of the variance in perceived social justice.
Discussion: Institutional and perceptual factors, particularly trust in healthcare personnel, perceived fairness, and sense of security, demonstrated greater explanatory importance than spatial factors. Although spatial analysis revealed geographic concentration and accessibility constraints, improving service quality, enhancing transparency, and strengthening procedural justice may substantially mitigate tensions and improve service-user satisfaction.
Article number: 5
Type of Study: orginal |
Received: 2025/10/3 | Accepted: 2026/07/1 | Published: 2026/08/31
Received: 2025/10/3 | Accepted: 2026/07/1 | Published: 2026/08/31
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