Elsevier

Nursing Outlook

Volume 52, Issue 3, June 2004, Pages 142-146
Nursing Outlook

Use of mapping technology in health intervention research

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2004.01.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Diabetes is one of the most serious illnesses in the United States, especially for certain minority groups, but it can be prevented. Successful intervention programs to prevent diabetes require information about where target populations live and carry out their activities. This information can be obtained and displayed using methods of geographic analysis. The purpose of this article is to show how maps of where people live and carry out their daily activities can be used by health care providers to plan a diabetes prevention program. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies are used to map (1) residences, (2) activity spaces using symbols and standard deviational ellipses (SDEs), and (3) sites where diabetes information has the potential to be welcomed, for a sample of low income African American, Latino, and white females and males in a small, rural, southern town. Respondent residences are clustered in certain areas of the town. Activity spaces and preferred intervention sites are concentrated in the downtown areas and shopping centers along the principal highway. These sites differ not only by ethnic group but also by sex. Maps provide an in-depth orientation to a study community in visually striking ways. In this study, they provide data on the best locations for diabetes prevention programs and educational materials to target individuals at high risk for the development of type 2 diabetes.

Section snippets

Using GPS and GIS technologies to study health

Analysis of point, line, area, and surface patterns of disease and health care has been an integral component of medical geography for several decades.7, 8, 9 Increasingly, GPS and GIS technologies are being used to accurately locate and analyze spatial health data. A primary requirement of a spatial analysis is that the data points, which represent such items as residences, diabetes cases, or hospitals, be located as accurately as possible. A GPS unit is now routinely used for this task.10

The study community

Millvale (a pseudonym) is a rural southern town that had a population of approximately 7,000 in 2000.13 It is approximately 20 percent African American, 40 percent Latino, and 40 percent white. The town lies within a highly productive agricultural area; industry, with concentrations in meat processing and textile manufacturing, is also very important. Latino immigrants have been attracted to the jobs provided by these industries. Millvale has 1 hospital, a branch clinic of the county health

Where people live and go to carry out their activities

Most African Americans came from predominantly African American neighborhoods to the north and south of Highway 77, in the southeastern part of town. Latinos were more scattered, with some concentration north of Highway 77 and in the southeastern corner of Millvale. Whites were scattered and more peripheral than African Americans and Latinos.

The most important work places for Latinos were along a main street passing through the downtown and toward the southwest; 2 minor workplaces were in an

Discussion and conclusions

Preparing for an intervention to prevent a chronic illness such as diabetes should include an understanding of the target community, including information about where members of the target population live and carries out their daily activities (Figure 3). Educational materials (eg, brochures, lectures, videos) developed for an intervention must be distributed at certain strategic points. The location of these points depends a great deal on where people can usually be found in sufficient numbers

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on a project titled “Type 2 Diabetes: Ethnic Variation in Knowledge and Beliefs,” funded by The National Institute for Nursing Research, N.I.H., Grant #04552-01A2 (2000-2003), Anne H. Skelly, PhD, RN, P.I.

Wilbert M. Gesler is a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Wilbert M. Gesler is a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

    Matthew Hayes is a GIS Consultant at the Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

    Thomas A. Arcury is a Professor and Research Director at the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC.

    Anne H. Skelly is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC

    Sally Nash is a Lecturer at the Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

    April C. M. Soward is a Project Manager at the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

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