HSCI 4320 – GIS in Community Health Assignment

The goal of this assignment is for students to use geospatial data and tools to identify and demonstrate community health-related needs and resources in the state of Colorado. Students will use the ArcGIS online tool to create a geospatial information systems (GIS) map for the assignment. Students will find data to demonstrate community health needs/resources using all three of the following formats:

1)     ArcGIS “Living Atlas” option,

2)     Point data (i.e., facilities data file) provided in the “GIS Course Project Option 2 Module” on Canvas, and

3)     Polygon data (i.e., health outcomes, health issues, and health behaviors) provided in the “GIS Course Project Option 2 Module” on Canvas.

Students can also search online to find shape and point file data to include in their GIS maps. Students will be required to use polygon (shape) and point data but can also use linear data as they see fit.

Students will create a comprehensive GIS map for this assignment. Information detailing what is to be included in the GIS map is provided in the instructions on the following pages. In addition to the GIS map, students will provide a 500 to 1,000-word narrative detailing:

·        the GIS data that is being presented,

·        the community health need/problem being presented,

·        locations of concern and why/what the concern is,

·        hypothesis about why the need/issue exists,

·        why the issue/need should be addressed,

·        at least 2 potential ways that the problem could be addressed through programming, policy, or re-allocation of resources, and

·        what type(s) of intervention approaches/strategies your hypothesized solutions are defined as

o   multi-strategy interventions/solutions are okay and preferred in most cases.

 

Getting Started

Step 1: Sign in to your UCCS ArcGIS account.

Students should navigate to the following url and sign in: UCCS GIS Portal (arcgis.com)

Data for the assignment has already been added to our “HSCI 4320 – Community Health” group on ArcGIS. There are four types of GIS data files.

·        Boundary data files:  The file names include the word “Boundaries” at the end. One file provides an outline of the CO counties and the other provides city limit boundaries for more populated cities within CO. The boundary files are useful to add as a layer to most maps. The city boundaries are mostly relevant when you are working on city-level maps (i.e., you wouldn’t need to add it for a county- or state-level map).

·        Shape or “polygon” data files:  These shape files include county-level health data and the name of each file indicates the health-related GIS data the file includes. The health issues and behaviors available in this county-level form includes suicide, smoking, physical activity, mental health, depression, heart disease mortality, influenza hospitalizations, flu vaccination rates, and asthma. Additionally, there is a “Health Outcomes” shapefile that includes data on diabetes, along with some of the other variables already listed.

·        Census Tract data files:  There are three census-tract files (asthma, food environment, and life expectancy). These files include the word “Census Tract” at the end of the file name. These files contain data at the census tract-level. A Census Tract is a relatively permanent area/neighborhood that generally encompasses between 2,500 to 8,000 people. The files available on Canvas plot health data at the neighborhood level and allows for the observation of health status/outcomes by neighborhood within a city.

·        Point data files: There are three of these files (health facilities, substance abuse and mental health providers, and WIC facilities). These files include the word “Facilities” within their file name. These files plot specific locations of facilities/resources on a GIS map by the type of health-related resource and some include the ability to plot by factors such as whether a facility accepts Medicaid.

 

Step 2: Selecting data to map.

The data files that students will be working with are available to be viewed on Canvas, but they are already uploaded into ArcGIS as well. So, there is no need for students to try to download the data from Canvas and upload it to ArcGIS their self. In addition to Canvas, students can also explore the data files on ArcGIS. To do so, open a Map on ArcGIS. Select the “Add Layer” option. Then, click the dropdown button next to where it says “My Content” and select “My Groups.”  This will bring up all the GIS data files that I have uploaded for students to use on the assignment. You can scroll through and explore the files here on ArcGIS.

 

 

 

NOTE: ArcGIS has a “New Map View” and a “Classic Map View.”  You can work within either map view you choose. These instructions are consistent with operating within the New Map View.  To change from Classic Map View to New Map View (or vice versa) you can click on the corresponding text in the top right-hand section of the map page (circled by the red rectangle box on the prior image).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Creating a community health GIS map.

The community health GIS map should have either a state-level focus or a city level focus. A state-level map will use the polygon shapefiles/data to depict health data for every county in the state. A city-level GIS map should utilize the city boundaries shapefile and should utilize one of the census tract data files. For city-level GIS maps, please focus in on Colorado Springs for this assignment.

Once you decide on a state/county or city-level community health focus, you will add those corresponding GIS files to your map. 

Next, students will need to integrate one of the point data files into their map to support/enhance their GIS community health question.

Finally, students will integrate one file GIS layer of data from either the “Living Atlas” or the “ArcGIS Online” options. The features provide access to an abundant amount of data on many factors relevant to community health. For example, students can search for GIS layers on household income, ethnicity, food deserts, public transportation, emergency response times, and so on. Students should add a layer that is relevant to their community health questions and helps to better understand who might be impacted by the issue or how critical the issue is to the state/counties/city. Students can see in the image about where to access the “Living Atlas” and “ArcGIS Online” data (circled by the red rectangle box on the prior image). Select the “Add Layer” option. Then, click the dropdown button next to where it says, “My Content” and select “Living Atlas” or “ArcGIS Online.”

The community health GIS map will include at least three layers of data:

1)     A health-related shape file of your choice (county data).

2)     A point data file that includes community health facilities that is relevant to the community health issue you are exploring (in #1 above).

3)     An additional layer of data from “Living Atlas” or “ArcGIS Online” that builds upon your community health GIS question/issue.

NOTE: In many/most cases, students will likely also be using one or both of the Colorado Boundary files (county and/or city).

 

Step 4: County-level map design & format

Students should give careful attention to the design, detail, and aesthetic appeal of their map(s). All map images should:

·        include a legend(s),

·        use appropriate labels,

o   e.g., symbols that are an appropriate size, shape/color, etc., include county name labels

·        appropriately format shape file layers to be visually appealing, have clear boundaries, that do not cover or hide other layers or geographically important data, and are easily interpretable.

·        use colors/shading for health data that is logical,

o   e.g., when displaying health data, it would not be logical to have the most healthy counties/regions to be colored in a dark red, mid-healthy counties in light red, and unhealthy counties in white as laypersons and typical use of colors/shading would conceptualize the darker red areas to be the more unhealthy counties.

·        and only show the GIS data layers/information that is relevant to the map that you are presenting.

 

Step 5: Images to include for the state-level map

While students are going to be required to have one final or “culminating” map, students should also provide multiple images leading up to that “final” map. Using multiple images will help with guiding the narrative for some students, but others may be comfortable with or prefer to just use one final map. See the following pages for examples of map images.

There are three ways to attain images of your map(s) as you move through the assignment.

1)     You can use the “Print” option located (in New Map View) on the left-hand side of the screens at the bottom of the ribbon of choices to select (it is displayed as a small printer). Print the Map to a file format that works well on your computer and that can be added into a Word document for you to submit. For example, printing to a PDF may not be the best option as you can’t “copy” a pdf and put it into a Word doc. Instead, printing to a file type such as a jpeg, can be easier for copy/pasting the map into a Word doc.

2)     You can use the “print screen” feature on your computer to print your screen and crop the image to ensure it is looks nice.

3)     ArcGIS has a feature (select “Create App” then “StoryMaps”) that allows you to create a presentation of your map and students interested in doing that can submit a PowerPoint File with their images and a separate Word document with their narrative. I am very flexible on how students want to submit these to me so that they are clear, organized, and aesthetically appealing. Reach out if you have questions or concerns about how to best organize or build your images into your submission.

These are probably the best approaches to consider for including the files within a Word (or similar) document – like I have here.

Examples of how to use multiple pictures to guide your narration. NOTE: I pulled these images using the “Classic Map View.”

This image shows county-level depression rates. Counties with darker red indicate higher levels of depression. Students would then continue on in their narrative to provide a more thorough explanation as detailed in the instructions.

This image shows substance abuse and mental health facilities across the state of Colorado. Facilities are color-coded by the type of client each facility serves: yellow symbols indicate service to…blue indicates…green indicates… etc. Again, students would continue on in their narrative to provide a more thorough explanation as detailed in the instructions.

 

This image shows county-level depression rates and substance abuse and mental health facilities across the state of Colorado. Counties with darker red indicate higher levels of depression. Facilities are color-coded by type of client each facility serves: yellow symbols indicate service too…blue indicates… etc. Yet again, students would continue on in their narrative to provide a more thorough explanation as detailed in the instructions highlighting where services are abundant, where there is significant need…

 

Step 6: Writing a narrative for your map

Students will draft a 500 to 1,000-word narrative for the community health map that is created. Students will provide the following information when describing their map:

·        Describe the community health need/problem being presented.

o   Be sure to indicate what the health-related problem that is being presented is and why it is important.

·        Thoroughly describe the GIS data that is being presented.

o   What layers are being presented and what do they mean?  If there are different symbols or colors of counties describe these details (NOTE: see my examples above)

·        Describe locations of concern and why/what the concern is.

o   Which areas seem to have larger rates of the health issue, in general. Then, considering the shape/polygon and point data, are there areas that have a high prevalence of the health issue and seemingly adequate access to resource/help? Are there areas that have a high prevalence of the health issue and NO or LIMITED access to the resources/help? And so on…

·        Hypothesize why the community health need/issue exists.

o   Considering your final/cumulative map, provide at least two hypotheses about why there may be discrepancies with the overall/general prevalence of the health issue based ONLY on areas where the health issue is high.

o   Next, provide at least two hypotheses based on why there is/may be discrepancies in access to health resources/facilities where there is a high prevalence of the health issue and limited/low/no access.

·        Indicate why the issue/need should be addressed.

o   Why it is important to address the issue?  Here, go beyond just saying “it is important to not have mental health issues.”  Why is this health issue more important or urgent compared to spending precious/limited resources that we have for preventative health on another issue?  Why does this need/issue need to be addressed right away?

·        Provide at least 2 potential ways that the problem could be addressed through programming, policy, or re-allocation of resources. Indicate what type(s) of intervention approaches/strategies your hypothesized solutions are defined as. Multi-strategy interventions/solutions are okay and preferred in most cases.

o   For each potential solution you propose, limit the description of each of the proposals to 4-6 sentences.

§  Proposal 1: Describe the solution (2-3 sentences). Describe why it would work (1-2 sentences). Indicate what type of intervention strategies (from class) should be incorporated (2-3 sentences).

 

Step 7: Your GIS map is complete!

 

 

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (arcgis.com)

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