New discipline, led by Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 Kristen Kurland, tackles health problems
What does a new computer-based discipline have to do with obesity鈥攐ne of today鈥檚 most significant health issues?
A great deal, as it turns out.
GIS鈥擥eographic Information Systems鈥攃aptures, displays, and analyzes data based on geographic references. Think of Google maps, and imagine being able to pile on multiple layers and types of information: location-specific data about health, crime, income, education, and more.
Then imagine being able to visualize and analyze that data in multiple ways. The result: images that convey more information鈥攁nd make more powerful arguments鈥攖han words often can. With GIS, seeing is truly believing.
Kristen Kurland, a Carnegie Mellon faculty member with a joint appointment in the School of Architecture and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, is a nationally known expert on GIS, particularly as it relates to health.
CDC Using the Book
Kurland focuses on community design, its influence on public health, and how public policy can improve public health through thoughtful design decisions. With co-author Wilpen Gorr, professor of public policy and management information systems in the Heinz School, Kurland has written several books that are considered by many to be the gold standard for learning GIS鈥攖he GIS Tutorial for Health, for example, is used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Today, much of Kurland鈥檚 health work concerns obesity
The availability of healthful food is a contributing factor. One example: Pittsburgh鈥檚 Hill District. Kurland has used GIS to show how difficult it is for Hill residents to get to stores that sell healthful food; the entire neighborhood is served only by convenience stores. And, with low income levels in the area, many residents don鈥檛 own cars to get to full-service grocery stores. (That knowledge is being put to work: A student group is spearheading an effort to attract a full-service grocery store to the Hill.)
Another project to help the Hill to better health is part of an initiative led by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Kurland and her students are working with the Hill House鈥攁 hub of social services and neighborhood activity鈥攆or the exercise-oriented 鈥淒on鈥檛 Sit Still on the Hill鈥� initiative. Using a Carnegie Mellon鈥揹eveloped GIS enhancement called Maphub, Hill District residents are collaborating to identify and map specific places that make exercise walking difficult. The resulting maps will be used to demonstrate exactly what changes鈥攖o sidewalks, traffic patterns, and even policing鈥攃ould help make the Hill a more walkable locale.
GIS is helping to combat obesity in other ways, too. Some Pittsburgh elementary schools lack physical education facilities, so students don鈥檛 get much exercise. At the request of school district policymakers, Kurland and her students mapped elementary school locations against local green spaces, indicating walking distances. It became instantly obvious that some schools are near enough to parks that outdoor gym classes could become part of the curriculum.
鈥淟ook at This Map鈥︹��
Kurland and her team also are collaborating with Silva Arslanian, MD, director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at Children鈥檚 Hospital of Pittsburgh. The group is mapping where overweight children who receive care at the center live. Ultimately, says Kurland, 鈥淗ealthcare providers will be able to say to a particular school district, 鈥楲ook at this map: You have an extraordinary number of overweight kids who are at risk of health problems. You may want to do something about your phys ed programs and your school lunches and vending machines.鈥�
GIS is useful for health applications far beyond obesity. Kurland, for example, has used GIS to show鈥攄ramatically鈥攚hich Allegheny County neighborhoods have a high incidence of children with elevated levels of lead in their blood. She also has correlated elevated lead levels not only with the age of housing but also with neighborhood income and education levels; as education and income rise, the incidence of lead poisoning declines鈥攑erhaps because parents know more about the problem and have the resources to remediate lead paint in their homes.
The county is using the GIS images and information to convince pediatricians in the high-incidence neighborhoods to screen local children more carefully.
Among other things, Kurland has also used GIS to map the locations of all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) 鈥渢racks鈥濃�攕afe riding venues鈥攁nd pediatric ATV injuries; areas with available tracks have lower rates of injury. And GIS has helped to identify areas of Pennsylvania where there aren鈥檛 enough mammography centers to serve women.
Both Kurland and coauthor Gorr are sought-after consultants (Kurland鈥檚 focus is health, Gorr鈥檚 is crime). But the two don鈥檛 always accept the invitations that flow in from around the country. Says Kurland, 鈥淢ostly we let our books represent us elsewhere. We鈥檙e at Carnegie Mellon, and one of our goals is to help this university help communities here.鈥�
RELATED LINKS:
