A picture is worth a thousand words: Using GIS to motivate and support your research
Bill Buckingham
PhD Candidate
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Applied Population Laboratory

Actually….
If a picture is worth a thousand words…then a map is worth a thousand pictures…

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“Maps are like milk: their information is
perishable, and it is wise to check the date.”
-Mark Monmonier

Let talk about Health and GIS…

GIS and Health
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Determine Geographic Distribution of
Disease
Analyze Spatial and Temporal Trends
Map Populations at Risk
Assess Resource Allocation
Plan and Target Interventions
Monitor diseases and interventions over time

GIS Techniques for Health
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Geocoding
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Interpolation
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Integration of Multiple Spatial Variables
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Network Analysis to characterize access to assets and exposure to risk
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MAPS!

Geography and Health
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It’s Not Just GIS
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Visualization and Maps
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Google (esp. Google Maps!)
– Google Flu Trends
( http://www.google.org/flutrends )

Safe Routes

Patient Analysis

Patient Analysis

Participatory Photo Mapping

Geographic Sample Frame
Production for Health Research

Big Issues in GIS and Health
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Geocoding, Privacy and Human Subjects
– Geocoding is too fine for public presentation
– Aggregate these data to the smallest possible unit
– Mask data for display

Geocoding – What is it exactly?

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A Case Study application in
Public Health
Questions before we start down this aside?

Can Qualitative Spatial
Representations help unwrap the multi-layered puzzle?

But where does our target population reside?
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Geocoded Births from 1990-2009
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Calculation of Index of Deprivation after
Messer et al(2006)
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Principle Components Analysis of eight
Census Variables:

Variables
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Percent of Population in Crowded Housing
Percent of Pop with Management Positions
(protective)
Percent of Pop with a less than HS
Education
Percent of Pop making less than $30,000
Percent in Poverty
Percent using Public Assistance
Percent Unemployed

Does the map make sense?

Variables
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Percent of Population in Crowded Housing
Percent of Pop with Management Positions
(protective)
Percent of Pop with a less than HS
Education
Percent of Pop making less than $30,000
Percent in Poverty
Percent using Public Assistance
Percent Unemployed

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How do we acquire data and what do we do once we have captured these data?
Construction of a New Spatial Medium.
– Enables capture through lightweight web interface.
– Targets specific queries
– Allows for free-form entry as well
– Needs to load at the public library

System Goals
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Lightweight spatial data capture
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Analysis tools – Qualitative Coding (after
GT)
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Simple Web-based Visualization
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Export to shapefile for spatial statistics or
GIS analysis (quantitative)

GIS and Health
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Diverse
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Many ways GIS can interface with Health
Data
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Opportunities abound!
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What about GIS and Pharmacy?

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“Maps are like milk: their information is
perishable, and it is wise to check the date.”
-Mark Monmonier