Returning to our roots: The use of geospatial data for nurse‐led community research

Abstract

In the early 20th century, public health nurse, Lillian Wald, addressed the social determinants of health (SDOH) through her work in New York City and her advocacy to improve policy in workplace conditions, education, recreation, and housing. In the early 21st century, addressing the SDOH is a renewed priority and provides nurse researchers with an opportunity to return to our roots. The purpose of this methods paper is to examine how the incorporation of geospatial data and spatial methodologies in community research can enhance the analyses of the complex relationships between social determinants and health. Geospatial technologies, software for mapping and working with geospatial data, statistical methods, and unique considerations are discussed. An exemplar for using geospatial data is presented regarding associations between neighborhood greenspace, neighborhood violence, and children's asthma control. This innovative use of geospatial data illustrates a new frontier in investigating nontraditional connections between the environment and SDOH outcomes.

Transforming Social Determinants to Educational Outcomes: Geospatial Considerations

“…Through this paper, we show ways that institutions can use geospatial techniques to understand learners’ social needs in a data-driven manner. Even where there is existing geospatial policy in place such as the Geospatial Data Act of 2018, there need to be increased efforts in improving geospatial literacy, in turn improving policy compliance [ 52 , 53 , 54 ].…”

“…For instance, we found that by combining the basic tenets of the social determinants of health and the Dynamic Integration Model, we can guide the research in a targeted manner to focus on important aspects of education. By using state-of-the art, 21st century technology, we can better visualize and understand patterns at a granular level so that there can be improved and sustainable [ 53 ] and inclusive education then can lead to upward social mobility within the community.…”

Using Geographic Information Systems in health disparities research: Access to care considerations

“…We accounted for hospital locations on January 1 of the year following any status changes. • Direct observation and tracking using global navigation satellite systems (e.g., GPS) (Bolstad, 2019;Donia, 2019) • Aspatial factors: Characteristics of a given place or space (that may impact realized access to care) (DePriest et al, 2019;Khan & Bhardwaj, 1994;Krieger, 2003) • Demographic, socioeconomic, health behaviors, health outcomes, etc.…”

“…For instance, Bloch (2011) employed GIS to ascertain the presence of spatial patterns of preterm births among Black residents in Philadelphia. More recently, DePriest et al (2019) illustrated how spatial methodologies and geospatial data use might improve the analyses of social determinants' effects on health outcomes when they investigated the linkages between neighborhood attributes (greenspace and violence) and childhood asthma. As nurses join multidisciplinary research teams and GIS software gains new robust capabilities, nurses' participation in GIS‐related research will likely increase further.…”

Papers on research methods: The hidden gems of the research literature

“…The next paper in our special issue addresses how geospatial data and spatial methodologies may be used to better understand how the environment relates to health (DePriest, Shields, & Curriero, ). The researchers measured neighborhood greenspace and neighborhood violence to measure their association with children's asthma control.…”