Mapping population vulnerability and community support during COVID-19: a case study from Wales

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Community Resilience
• Data Visualization

Background:

• COVID-19 pandemic strained official resources, necessitating community-led support.
• Citizen initiatives are crucial for community crisis coping but challenging to measure.
• Understanding the scope of community response is vital for targeted support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an interactive map of citizen-led responses to need during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales.
• To integrate data from multiple sources, reflecting diverse interpretations of need and support.
• To create an accessible tool for exploring community action.

Main Methods:

• Data gathered from official and community-generated sources, creating 14 variables for need and support.
• A reproducible data pipeline was used for flexible data integration.
• An interactive online map (www.covidresponsemap.wales) was developed with two geographic resolutions and a linked bee-swarm plot for interpretation.

Main Results:

• The developed approach allows exploration and analysis of need and support distribution across Wales.
• Community-generated data, despite potential limitations, proved effective when used with traditional data.
• The tool enhances understanding of community action and resilience.

Conclusions:

• The novel approach effectively visualizes and analyzes community response to crises.
• Combining diverse data sources maximizes the understanding of community action and resilience.
• Future developments aim to integrate additional factors like well-being.