GIS and Community Health

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GIS and Community Health
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GIS and Community Health

• Some critiques of GIS emphasize the potentially
  harmful social consequences of the diffusion of
  GIS technology, including reinforcing the power
  of state agencies, facilitating surveillance, and
  promoting an at best naive, technocratic view
  of social problems (Goss, 1995 Sheppard, 1995
  Campbell, 1996 Clark, 1998)

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GIS and Community Health

• At the same time, the development of GIS and the
  hardware, software, databases, and networking
  systems they rely on have also made it possible
  for the general public to have greater access to
  health and environmental information and to
  visualize and analyze that information in new and
  innovative ways.

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Institutional Context and Interests in GIS
Development

• A range of institutions and organizations have
  adopted GIS as an information technology.
• These organizations have different program
  responsibilities and information needs, and as a
  consequence different reasons for using GIS
• The institutional context affects the kind and
  quality of geographic data available for GIS
  implementation.

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Institutional Context and Interests in GIS
Development

• Federal and state agencies develop foundation
  databases for their own use and public
  distribution
• Data vary from place to place depending upon
  geographical conditions, state agency
  responsibilities, and state regulatory
  requirements
• Local agencies and community groups have access
  to detailed information about local conditions
• Databases developed by private concerns may be
  very detailed but are less likely to ve available
  for public distribution

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Institutional Context and Interests in GIS
Development

• Data
• Institution
• CollectionIManagementIAnalysisIDistributionIReg
  ulationIScientific Research
• Federal agencies x x x x x x
• State agencies x x x x x x
• Local agencies x x x x
• Health care x x x
• Providers and
• Insurers
• Universities x x x x
• Research institutes
• Libraries and x x
• Clearinghouses
• GIS vendors x
• Community Groups x x x x

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Institutional Context and Interests in GIS
Development cont
Institution Education and
trainingIAdvocacyIHealth service
deliveryISoftware development Federal
agencies State agencies x Local agencies
x Health care x Providers
and Insurers Universities x x Research
institutes Libraries and x Clearinghouses GIS
vendors x x Community Groups
x x
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(PPGIS) Public Participation GIS

• The expanding role of GIS in community-based
  health initiatives is connected to the broader
  movement to develop public participation GIS,
• linking the various institutions and
  organizations involved in GIS development

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(PPGIS) Public Participation GIS

• Systems that facilitate and enhance participation
  of individuals and groups
• in society around issues of local concern
  (Sheppard, 1999)
• The systems enable participants to explore local
  environmental and social issues, asses their
  significance, and communicate openly and
  effectively in attempting to address those
  issues.

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Corner stones of PPGIS

• To accommodate an equitable representation of
  diverse views
• This implies enhancements to GIS design and
  functionality, as well as understanding of the
  sociopolitical contexts of community
  participation
• A key element of PPGIS is community involvement
  in the creation, evaluation, and analysis of
  spatial data.

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Corner stones of PPGIS

• Local knowledge in the form of narratives,
  photos. Sketch maps, or video images that may be
  linked to and integrated with foundation spatial
  data. Some GIS are now able to handle such
  diverse types of spatial information

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Corner stones of PPGIS

• Web based GIS hold great promise for development
  of PPGIS. In PPGIS, participant involvement also
  extends into analysis and interpretation of
  spatial data
• PPGIS can be designed in different ways depending
  on the needs and goals of participants, along
  with technical and social constraints.

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Corner stones of PPGIS

• A more flexible approach allows participants to
  design their own queries, create new
  classifications, and even contribute data to the
  GIS however, using these systems requires higher
  levels of skill and expertise on the part of
  community participants

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Corner stones of PPGIS

• PPGIS differ in the involvement of key interest
  groups or stakeholders. Because maintaining and
  operating GIS requires technical expertise, most
  PPGIS involve partnerships between community
  groups and academic researchers, students or
  trained public health professionals.

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GIS Access and Education for Community Groups

• GIS and the Internet are supporting public
  distribution of foundation data layers
• US Bureau of Census
• Land View III( The Bureau of Census, EPA, the
  U.S. Geological Survey, the Nuclear Regulatory
  Commission, Dept. of Transportation and FEMA)
• HUD produced Community 2020, a low priced desktop
  GIS

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Libraries and GIS

• Spatial data in five categories
• Scanned map images
• Spatial database libraries and their catalogs
• Map generators
• Map browsers
• Real-time maps and images

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Libraries and GIS

• The ARL GIS Literacy project supported a range of
  GIS applications in research libraries
• The New York State Library in Albany hosts New
  York State GIS Clearinghouse

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Libraries and GIS

• Fulfill a critical role in archiving and
  maintaining collections of digital geospatial
  data as the databases are replaced by updated
  versions.

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GIS in the Schools

• GIS technology into K-12 education
• Access to hardware and time constraints in the
  learning day are critical factors affecting the
  incorporation of GIS into K-12 curriculum
• Teacher training workshops and surveys designed
  to help educators assess GIS readiness are being
  used to encourage the diffusion of GIS technology
  into the public schools

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Local Planning

• Grassroots GIS efforts involve citizens more
  directly in mamaging their communities
• Broader community awareness of GIS and access to
  technology

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Community-based public health GIS

• Difficult to review
• Usually deal with specific, localized
  communities, seek to document a wide range of
  neighborhood conditions, reflecting a broad view
  of health
• GIS adapted by local groups as a tool to raise
  community awareness of neighborhood conditions
  and available services, to organize local
  residents, and ultimately to effect change

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Constraints on PPGIS

• Differences in community resources and capacity
  to adopt GIS technology
• GIS represents a significant investment of money,
  time and staff, an investment that competes with
  other important needs for scarce community
  resources
• Communities that lack resources and political
  cloud are less likely to benefit from
  participatory health GIS

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Constraints on PPGIS

• Little is known about the performance and
  outcomes of PPGIS in diverse communities and the
  varying capacities of diverse groups to ensure
  that their health interests and needs are
  addressed.
• PPGIS facilitate community participation in
  analyzing local health problems, but do not
  guarantee that those problems will be addressed.