Doing Research with GIS: Applications in Health Geography

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Doing Research with GIS Applications in Health
Geography

• If all ambulances
• could fly

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Undergraduate Level Research

• Geography Program, UNBC
• Jessica McGregor
• Neil Hanlon
• Scott Emmons
• Seamus Carroll
• Aaron Koning

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Research Question

• Does access to emergency care meet provincial
  standards in Northern British Columbia when
  network analysis is used?
• Comparing two methods of measuring geographical
  accessibility in northern BC

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Literature Review

• Correlation of Travel Time on Roads vs. Straight
  Line Distance
• Ciaran S. Phibbs and Harold Luft (1995)
• Normative Models and Healthcare Planning
  Network-Based Simulations Within a Geographic
  Information System Environment
• Stephen Walsh, Phillip Page and Wilbert Gesler
  (1997)
• Examining distance effects on hospitalizations
  using GIS a study of three health regions in
  British Columbia, Canada
• Ge Lin, Diane Allan and Margaret Penning (2002)

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Study Area

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Study Context

• Standards of Accessibility
• Emergency Care
• 24/7/52 basis
• within one hour travel time, or the Golden Hour
  
• for 98 of the population
• Method of Measurement
• Straight-line distance, or as the crow flies

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Percentage of NHA Population within 50km of Acute
Care Facility by HSDA
Northwest 99.4
Northern Interior 98.1
Northeast 94.5
NHA Total 97.7

• Includes Diagnostic Treatment Centres, Federal
  Nursing Stations and Red Cross Outposts
• Source Standards of Accessibility and Guidelines
  for Provision of Sustainable Acute Care Services,
  Appendix 4

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Data

• Hospital
• Road Data
• Enumeration Area Data (1996)
• Block Face Data (2001)

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Methods

• As the crow flies reproduce results published
  by the Ministry of Health Services (1996 data)
• 2. Network Calculation (1996 data)

50km
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Distance Analyzer Interface
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(No Transcript)
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Methods contd

• 3. Aerial and Network calculations (2001 data)
• Facility tables updated
• Population data at block face scale, 2001

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Results
Aerial Analysis Population Within Golden Hour
1996 data 95
2001 data 91
Network Analysis Population Within Golden Hour
1996 data 92
2001 data 90
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50 km buffers of 1996 facilities 95 within
golden hourBlack points indicate enumeration
area centroids
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Network analysis of 1996 data 92 within the
golden hourBlack points indicate enumeration
area centroids
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50km buffers of 2001 facilities 91.4 within
golden hourBlack points indicate block face
centroids
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Network analysis of 2001 data 89.6 within
golden hourBlack points indicate block face
centroids
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Comparing Network and Aerial Analysis
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Discussion

• Challenges
• Georeferencing with postal codes
• Accuracy of route information
• Failure of Network/Enumeration Area Model
• Variability of block size

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Discussion contd

• Policy Implications
• Informing policy makers
• Uncontrolled urban sprawl
• More money?

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Conclusion

• The Benefits of Network Analysis
• Real distance and travel time
• Can adjust for seasonality and geography
• Important in rural areas where geographic
  barriers reduce distance-travel time correlations

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If all ambulances could fly putting provincial
standards of emergency care access to the test in
Northern British Columbia

• http//www.cma.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/44834/la_id/1.ht
  m.