Geospatial approaches for disease risk communication in marginalized communities

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Geospatial Science
• Risk Communication

Background:

• Post-Hurricane Katrina collaboration between Louisiana State University (LSU) and FEMA established the LSU GIS Clearinghouse Cooperative (LGCC) for geospatial data dissemination.
• Experience serving community geospatial data needs, particularly in marginalized areas, and collaboration with the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and GIS for Public Health (WHOCC) informed the study.
• Identified several geospatial technologies (GT) and implementation methods for risk communication strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess the benefits and limitations of geospatial technologies for risk communication in marginalized communities.
• Provide insights into effective implementation of GT for community-based health participation.

Main Methods:

• Categorized geospatial technologies employed in rural coastal Louisiana for risk communication and data dissemination into three groups: lightweight GIS, map dissemination tools, and interactive GT.
• Evaluated the functionality and user-dependency of each GT category.

Main Results:

• Lightweight GIS and map dissemination tools often require GIS expert assistance for development and customization.
• Interactive GT, particularly Google Maps, demonstrate user-friendly operation and significant potential for community-based health participation without expert reliance.
• Google Maps shows the greatest promise for community engagement in health initiatives.

Conclusions:

• Classifying GT by functionality is crucial for specialists to select the most effective spatial risk communication methods.
• Empowering community users to create accessible data is key to addressing local health needs through geospatial technologies.