GIS--a proven tool for public health analysis.

1. What is the scope? Is it, for example, all arboviral cases for
this year, or is the focus on West Nile virus only? Is it for your
entire county, or for a much smaller area?

4. Expand GIS awareness throughout your organization. Be on the

lookout for public health problem areas that might profit from the
creative application of GIS.

Once these basic items have been addressed, it is necessary to

identify how layer information will be displayed. Some maps have only
three or four information layers; others may have 20 or more. You will
need to classify your information into each of the three GIS categories
of layer information (point, line, or polygon). These layers can be
selectively superimposed on each other to identify spatial relationships
that could be key in helping solve your problem.

Another type of map also is effective in presenting summary

information in a format that is easily understood by audiences. For
example, the Palm Beach County Health Department wanted to emphasize
that the distribution of new cases of AIDS was sharply different for zip
codes within the county. The main advantages of such a map are impact in
terms of readability and a clear communication of patterns that have
been derived from relatively complex data. The disadvantages include a
lack of comprehensive detail (Figure 2).

* standardized field inspection tools for acquiring and processing

GIS location and attribute information, including powerful GIS-equipped
handheld computers.

2. Maintain a proactive linkage with statewide and national

databases. Work to achieve open standardized formats that can be easily
shared. Fight parochialism. Let your vendors know you want open systems.
Participate in areawide organizations, which provide training platforms
both for members and for nonmembers. Anticipate changes in software, and
proactively adapt and modify existing database structures to accommodate
innovative improvements.

There also are some practical approaches to augmenting the scarce

resources generally available to those developing and using GIS
applications:

4. Web-based dynamic maps, such as maps of child care centers may

be of interest. The current ability to establish and maintain such maps
is hampered by the lack of relatively inexpensive standardized software
that is simple to use. As this situation changes, the demand for current
dynamic maps will very substantially increase, and new Web-based maps
will be installed in sharply increasing numbers.

Some caveats are in order. Don't be afraid to take on a

project that has never been done before--it is the fastest way to
acquire new knowledge. Be willing to make mistakes--just acknowledge

them, correct them quickly, and make sure you share the lessons learned.
Maintain open communication with everybody using GIS--everyone learns
from each other. Finally, recognize that GIS may be very helpful in many
situations, but that it is not the only approach to solving a particular
public health problem.

A third type of map that has proven useful to the Palm Beach County
Health Department is an ortho-photo showing an area of interest with
superimposed layers identifying roads and key census information. Such a
map helped department staff analyze the neighborhood where an individual
in one of the malaria cases of 2003 resided. It brought to staff
attention a heavily wooded area to the south, where public health
practitioners investigated homeless occupancy (Figure 3).

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/GIS--aproventoolforpublichealthanalysis-a0123241098
4. How much detail is needed? Should the finished product be, for
instance, a comprehensive, polished map to be used as a basis for
allocating resources, or a preliminary map that enables you to take a
fast look at a rapidly unfolding situation?

This article proposes some practical guidelines for effectively

utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) in the assessment of
public health problems. GIS has been a tool of choice in Florida's
Palm Beach County Health Department for over 10 years. It has been used
with continuing success to clearly communicate public health problems
and solutions.

The major benefit of effectively utilizing GIS is the tremendous

advantage of bringing fresh insight into the process of solving public
health problems. These problem-solving insights are typically provided
with little, if any, increase in personnel and only minor expenditures
in one-time purchases of software and training. The application of these
insights to public health situations can potentially avert major
misapplication of scarce resources, and in some cases protect quality of
life, life itself, or both. GIS is a potent tool. In the authors'
view, the best way to justify its use is to point out that it is more
and more becoming a weapon of choice in effectively combatting disease
and threats to a healthy environment.

3. Who is the audience? Do you want to communicate with

professionals who have epidemiological insight, support services that
need understanding, or perhaps the press, so as to communicate key
information to the public?

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Corresponding Author: Robert H. Jenks, Environmental Specialist,

Palm Beach County Health Department, Environmental Health &
Engineering, 901 Evernia St., West Palm Beach, FL, 33402-0029, E-mail:
Robert_Jenks@doh.state.fl.us.

2. the area covered and the scale of the map or maps, and

Line data have the advantage of allowing you and other viewers of
your map to locate your point data within a framework of familiar
landmarks such as streets or rivers. Data of this type typically are
available from private or governmental sources in considerable detail.
(In rapid-growth areas, the data need to be updated on a regular basis.)
Every type of layer can be automatically turned on or off as a function
of how closely the viewer has zoomed in on the map. This ability to
selectively display detail is especially important with line data such
as streets, which could otherwise make the map too busy to be of any
practical use.
1. the number and scope of layers that can be turned on and turned
off in the map.
Some pertinent questions should be answered before you proceed with
your map:

The unique advantage that GIS offers is that users can superimpose a number of layers of
geographical information, then selectively turn
them on and off while trying to discover a meaningful pattern between
potential causes and observed effects. A public health practitioner can
gain useful insights into solving public health problems by examining
the pattern of spatial relationships that a well-prepared map can often
provide.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

3. Employ GIS tools that are the wave of the future. Some of these

tools are

5. Below's some great post I learnt lately. It explains all the needed details regarding the subject and
provide some informative knowledge you could never ever even visualize before. Have a great read
and if you like it please let me understand.When is the map needed? Can you wait three days, or
must you
have it in half an hour?

Engage in dialogue with your colleagues and assemble your own list
of potential GIS projects. Be sure to include discussion of the payoffs.
Only you and your colleagues can identify the GIS projects that may have
significant and realistic payoff. A potential list might include the
following GIS projects:

These decisions are fairly easy to make once the purpose of the map
has been agreed upon. They should remain relatively unchanged during the
mapping project.

Robert H. Jenks, M.B.A.

GIS can provide a better understanding of the information already

available about a geographic location or individual points. It may help
give new insights into existing relationships pertinent to that
location, including new understandings of causal factors and the

benefits to be obtained from measuring them, controlling them, or both.

It also may suggest information that is needed but not yet available.

Korte, G. (2000). The GIS Book (5th ed.). Clifton Park, NY: OnWord
Press. (ISBN: 0766828204.) This updated and expanded resource helps
readers understand what a geographic information system is and what it
can do.

3. the projection of the map and its coordinate system.

Then plan the map to provide knowledge without losing readability

and impact. Judiciously use ortho-photos. Carefully label the map. Less
information is better than too much.

Resource availability is a continuing problem for a

"soft" application such as GIS. There is ample documentation
of its benefits, as measured in savings of money and time, but these
benefits are usually avoidance benefits. (GIS rarely produces
"hard" savings of the type attractive to accountants and
administrators, such as savings produced by reduction in personnel).

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Polygon data describe a set of background layers that have a common

characteristic, such as airports, county parks, census tracts, or bodies
of water. These layers can help you develop meaningful insights by
superimposing selected point data and pertinent polygon data. An example
would be superimposing point locations for contaminated wells (point
data) onto well field protection zones (polygon data). Suggest those

polygon layers you think might be potentially useful on your map to your
mapmaker.

1. Potential bioterrorism-related applications--advance planning

here can pay large dividends.

* ortho-photo maps of high resolution;

Cromley, E., & McLafferty, S. (2002). GIS and Public Health.

New York: Guilford Press. (ISBN: 1572307072.) This book offers a
foundation for the understanding of geographic information systems
(GIS). It explains basic concepts and demonstrates how to implement core

data analysis techniques.

Steede-Terry, K. (2000). Integrating GIS and the Global

Positioning
System. Redlands: ESRI Press. (ISBN: 1879102811.) The
coupling of the
global positioning system (GPS) with the geographic
information system
(GIS) is an information revolution that will give
unprecedented accuracy
in measurement and completeness of coverage. This
comprehensive
reference answers the myriad questions involved in combining these two
systems for maximum benefit.

In summary, take the time to plan your map before you expend any
significant effort. Focus on the purpose of the map. You will be
rewarded with a map that suits your purpose, is easily readable by your
audience, and conveys your message with a strong visual impact.
Carefully choose the information layers you want to include. Try to make
the map location instantly recognizable to your audience. Utilize color
to enhance the readability of individual locations, providing contrast
where useful.

A map that showed "everything" would be messy, difficult

to read, or just plain incomprehensible. A useful map is a series of
compromises between readability and comprehensive totality, between
simplicity and complexity, between almost absolute accuracy and rough
approximation. There is no standard answer. A decision must be made
about the purpose of the map, what it should show, how the data should
be communicated, and how much preparation time is available. This
process also requires (in GIS language) making decisions about the
following parameters:

6. How many map copies do you need, of what size? Do you need 12
letter-size copies, or do you want two larger maps?

3. Inventorying and mapping of sanitary infrastructure can be used

for installations such as septic tanks, drinking-water wells, and lift
stations.

Three practical types of maps are discussed below. Perhaps the

simplest and most dramatic map is one that outlines an area of
particular interest to the audience. It has dramatic impact and
instantly conveys the message effectively. It does not require any
spreadsheet, only a detailed knowledge of the area boundaries (roads,
county line, etc.) and a certain level of manual dexterity in the use of
the GIS drawing tool to outline the polygon. Since a map of this type is
a "snapshot," its useful time period is limited. It is
particularly useful for handouts and newspaper articles (Figure 1).

Point data allow the map to show individual events (such as malaria
cases) or specific locations (such as locations of hazardous waste generators). For data of this type,
you need to provide (or have
available) standardized address information or, ideally, GPS coordinate
information in latitude and longitude degrees, to the equivalent of six
decimal places in degrees.

Jean M. Malecki, M.D., M.P.H.

2. What is the purpose? Is it to identify public health issues that

require priority attention? Is it to analyze underlying and interrelated causal factors? Is it to help in
the deployment of scarce resources for
mitigation?

Suggested Additional Reading

Finally, multiply your resources by networking with your

colleagues. Share your knowledge and scarce resources. Expand awareness

of the benefits of GIS throughout your organization. Be fully open to
challenge and innovation.

1. Network. Develop a network of cooperation within your

organization and with colleagues in other organizations. Share your
knowledge. Help each other solve problems. Collaborate on projects of
potential benefit to your larger community. Share your scarce resources
when feasible, including through temporary loans of specialized
equipment. Palm Beach County, for instance, has a GIS Forum, which has
been meeting bi-monthly for many years for just such networking
purposes.

* differentially corrected GPS systems tightly integrated with GIS

software (these systems acquire latitude/longitude information, which
readily permits mapping of geographic points); and

2. Natural-disaster assessment and remediation events--forest

fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes are examples of such occasions.

A fourth, specialized, type of layer information is called

ortho-photo data, available from both commercial and governmental
sources. Ortho-photos project lifelike images of the landscape below
with remarkable realism and level of detail (down to a typical
resolution of six inches). These images take up massive amounts of
electronic storage space, but when used selectively are very useful

analytic tools. One or more point, line, or polygon layers of

information can be selectively superimposed on an ortho-photo of a
selected area. When imposed on an ortho-photo, the three conventional
GIS layers can provide an enormous amount of useful map information.