MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS FOR HIVAIDS PREVENTION

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MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS FOR HIV/AIDS PREVENTION
TREATMENT SERVICES

• Carla E. Stokes, MPH
• Larry M. Gant, CSW, PhD
• CARAT/Rackham Information Technology Fellowship
  Meeting
• February 11, 2002

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THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN

• There are 13,000 HIV-infected persons in MI
  (including Persons living with AIDS)
• Each year, the majority of Michigans new
  HIV/AIDS cases occur in Wayne County
• There is a profound racial disparity in the
  distribution of HIV/AIDS cases

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WHAT IS GIS?(GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

• A GIS is a computer system for analyzing and
  mapping almost anything
• A GIS allows geographically distributed data to
  be integrated with computer assisted mapping,
  design, and geographic analysis

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WHY USE GIS?

• Maps are efficient at communicating geographic
  information
• Mapping gives users the ability to analyze data
  in a clear, convenient, and easy to comprehend
  form
• Maps illustrate geographic relationships

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MICROSOFT EXCEL DATABASE
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MORE THAN ONE DATABASE CAN BE LINKED
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WHY USE GIS IN PUBLIC HEALTH?

• GIS has an important role in public health
• Variation in health and health care needs are
  influenced by a variety of factors
• Ability to convey information visually
• Ability to geographically link health data with
  population characteristics, environmental
  conditions, and health care

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USES OF GIS FOR CURRENT STUDY

• Examination of health statistics (i.e.- disease
  rates) by geographic area
• Examination of use of health services to assist
  with resource allocation and needs assessment
• Analysis of the spatial distribution of health
  care facilities to assist in location of health
  services
• Disease surveillance
• Planning HIV/AIDS related prevention and
  treatment services

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METHODOLOGY

• Completed software training in Arc View GIS
• Located boundary file maps (street and zipcode)
  of Detroit
• Secured access to confidential HIV/AIDS
  surveillance databases
• Converted HIV/AIDS surveillance data
• from SAS to TXT to Excel to Dbase IV
• Used SPSS to generate HIV/AIDS counts by zip
  codes
• Created map layers in ArcView

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HIV/AIDS CASES BY ZIP CODEUSING ARC VIEW 3.2
DETROIT, MICHIGAN

• Confidential data to be released Summer 2002

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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

• Merge with Census 2000 data
• Incorporate substance abuse data
• Merge STD data bases
• Spatial statistical analysis of data
• Map trends over time