Neighborhoods and health: a GIS approach to measuring community
resource accessibility
Studies
have shown that there could be an association between the attributes of
neighborhoods and the health of its residents. Very few studies have been able
to support this through research until this study by Pearce, Witten, and
Bartie. They developed a methodology to measure the distance between certain
resources and neighborhoods in order to see if any patterns emerged. The
resources that they associated with health benefits included shopping (which
could include health food stores), education, recreation, and health
facilities. They used the 38 350 census meshblocks across New Zealand and while
using GIS, distance measures were “calculated from the population weighted
centroid of each meshblock to 16 specific types of facilities.” The map below shows one of the finding
from the study.
From this study, it was clear that regional variations in
geographical accessibility to community resources exist, especially between
urban and rural areas. With this study, it would be possible to examine further
how these neighborhoods are impacted by the proximity of resources and what can
be done to improve it.
Pearce, J., Witten, K., & Bartie, P. (2006). Neighbourhoods and health: a GIS approach to measuring community resource accessibility. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 60(5), 389-395.
I have acted with honesty and integrity in producing this work and am unaware of anyone who has not.
Jolene Klenzendorf
Pearce, J., Witten, K., & Bartie, P. (2006). Neighbourhoods and health: a GIS approach to measuring community resource accessibility. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 60(5), 389-395.
I have acted with honesty and integrity in producing this work and am unaware of anyone who has not.
Jolene Klenzendorf
Interesting! Were there any other factors taken into consideration? It seems like population density, age of subdivision's construction, environmental impacts, etc would also influence the average health in a neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteWas there any discussion on the demographics or the reasoning behind why certain areas are located closer to health care centers than others?
ReplyDeleteFrom what Garrett was saying, what was the main demographic that was located closest to heath care centers? Was there also a main demographic that was closer to the health food stores?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the economic factors in this neighborhood? Are those with higher accessibility more apt to a better economic lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the economic factors in this neighborhood? Are those with higher accessibility more apt to a better economic lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteFocusing on travel time, did measures include public transportation and expenses related to those?
ReplyDelete