Can you get there from here? How “spatial thinking” can make us better epidemiologists
Abstract
“Your zip code is a more powerful predictor of your health than your genetic code.” We have all heard versions of this claim to say that some thing or exposure associated with place, space, or geography dictates individual and population health outcomes. As a result, many of us measure space (individual addresses, neighborhood built environment, environmental contaminants), make maps, and describe patterns of exposures and health outcomes. But does this advance public health? And does it make us better epidemiologists? In this talk, I provide a framework for how “spatial thinking” can intersect with “epidemiologic thinking”. Using a series of case studies from Georgia, the Southeast, and beyond as motivation, I will discuss when and how GIS and spatial methods can help (and equally as importantly when they are unlikely to help) epidemiologists play their essential roles in caring for population health in the state. Although mention of statistical methods and useful data sources and tools will be included, the focus will be on the broad way we all approach the meaning of place and space, and how we can possibly leverage that meaning to monitor and improve health outcomes.
Keywords
GIS, spatial epidemiology, health geography, social epidemiology, built environment
Conflict of Interest Form
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Can you get there from here? How “spatial thinking” can make us better epidemiologists
“Your zip code is a more powerful predictor of your health than your genetic code.” We have all heard versions of this claim to say that some thing or exposure associated with place, space, or geography dictates individual and population health outcomes. As a result, many of us measure space (individual addresses, neighborhood built environment, environmental contaminants), make maps, and describe patterns of exposures and health outcomes. But does this advance public health? And does it make us better epidemiologists? In this talk, I provide a framework for how “spatial thinking” can intersect with “epidemiologic thinking”. Using a series of case studies from Georgia, the Southeast, and beyond as motivation, I will discuss when and how GIS and spatial methods can help (and equally as importantly when they are unlikely to help) epidemiologists play their essential roles in caring for population health in the state. Although mention of statistical methods and useful data sources and tools will be included, the focus will be on the broad way we all approach the meaning of place and space, and how we can possibly leverage that meaning to monitor and improve health outcomes.
