Modelling the Spatial Decision Problem. Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: SitHealth Evaluation Tool

Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been developed for aiding Decision-Makers (DMs) in handling and solving complex problems. When decisions belong to the public domain, as for the location of healthcare facilities, the use of DSSs could be fundamental to justify choices made and to easily communicate the results to citizens. Given the nature of the decision problem, the support of the Multicriteria-Spatial Decision Support Systems (MC-SDSS) has been recognised as strategic given the possibility to frame the decision problem, by breaking it down into hierarchical levels and to visualise the result directly on the territory through the use of maps. The contribution aims at presenting the strengths and weaknesses of the MC-SDSS for the location of healthcare facilities tested on a case study located in the Municipality of Milan, Italy, and to propose a DSS developed to support DMs, namely the Evaluation Tool for the Siting of Healthcare facilities (SitHealth Evaluation Tool).