Du bon usage de l’analyse spatiale et de l’évaluation territoriale dans les politiques sanitaires

Abstract About the good usage of spatial analysis and territorial evaluation in health policies. The first goal of this paper is to introduce the research conducted by PhD fellows in the field of medical geography at the University of Rouen (Upper Normandy). This year, the local authorities declared the Region in a sanitary crisis stage. These researches aim to answer to this social request. The Geomatic and Spatial Analysis methods are highly appreciated; they offer to Geographers and health professionals all together, to produce extremely important documents about distance and accessibility that could help the debate. The second goal of this paper is dealing with theory that leads geographer to go back and forth between the spatial concepts and territorial concepts. This point singles out political interactions such as health district making choices, localisation strategies for sanitary institutions, competition between them and so on. Finally, it conducts to assess the relevance of the territorial policies considering the population uses. How far can we explain the location of a new maternity clinic in city? Can we compare British and French prevalence of pace maker surgery? At the time of mobility, is it necessary to withdraw hospitals of city centres? Is there any link between psychological emergency and precariousness? All these questions are discussed within this paper. The challenge in analysing the present situations would be to assess the part of authorities compared to the role of the population.