This journal discusses the concept of neighborhoods and health
using a GIS approach to measure the resource accessibility for a community in
New Zealand. Per the journal, recent studies provide a correlation between
contextual traits of neighborhoods and the health of the residents that live
there. Unfortunately, there has been a scarcity of studies done regarding this
subject. Thus, Jamie Pearce, Karen Witten and Phil Bartie created this journal
and to show the development of a new groundbreaking methodology to investigate
geographical access to resources that are linked to health. In terms of GIS, it
was applied to ensure a precise, relevant and understandable development of
community resource measurements.
This was conducted with respect to locational aspects
(shopping malls, education, recreation, health facilities) for all the 38 – 350
census mesh blocks across New Zealand. With the use of GIS, distance measurements
were calculated using the weighted population center of each mesh block with
relation to 16 facilities that were identified as potential health related. In
other words, it measured the time between residential areas to health facilities
of all types. The study proved that the basic average travel time fell between less
than one minute to more than 244 minutes. Furthermore, there was considerably noticeable
differences were also apparent between neighborhoods within urban areas.
This study in conclusion proved that with advances in GIS, it
is now easier to directly measure access specific health related resources at
the neighborhood residential level. With the high average travel times as noted
and as expressed in the figures, it incentivizes for the construction of
individualized community resources which will enable researchers to investigate
with a more accurate notation of the impact that specific health outcomes have
on neighborhoods.
J Epidemiol Community Health 2006;60:389–395. doi: 10.1136/jech.2005.043281
This study can allow city planners all over the world to think about what a community needs to thrive. Without proper facilities certain areas will always be underserved and this study shows easy fixes.
ReplyDelete