Web-Based Geo-Visualisation of Spatial Information to Support Evidence-Based Health Policy: A Case Study of the Development Process of Health Tracks

Place is of critical importance to health as it can reveal patterns of disease spread and clustering, associations with risk factors, and areas with greatest need for, or least access to healthcare services and promotion activities. Furthermore, in order to get a good understanding of the health status and needs of a particular area a broad range of data are required which can often be difficult and time consuming to obtain and collate. This process has been expedited by bringing together multiple data sources and making them available in an online geo-visualisation, HealthTracks, which consists of a mapping and reporting component. The overall aim of the HealthTracks project is to make spatial health information more accessible to policymakers, analysts, planners and program managers to inform decision-making across the Department of Health western Australia. Preliminary mapping and reporting applications that have been utilised to inform service planning, increased awareness of the utility of spatial information and improved efficiency in data access were developed. The future for HealthTracks involves expanding the range of data available and developing new analytical capabilities in order to work towards providing external agencies, researchers and eventually the general public access to rich local area spatial data.

[1]  Nadine Schuurman,et al.  A Web-based graphical user interface for evidence-based decision making for health care allocations in rural areas , 2008 .

[2]  Ellen K Cromley,et al.  GIS and disease. , 2003, Annual review of public health.

[3]  Jon Wakefield,et al.  Health-exposure modeling and the ecological fallacy. , 2005, Biostatistics.

[4]  Bambang Parmanto,et al.  SOVAT: Spatial OLAP Visualization and Analysis Tool , 2005, Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[5]  Niilo Saranummi.  Rethinking health , 2011, 2011 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[6]  Maged N Kamel Boulos,et al.  International Journal of Health Geographics Open Access towards Evidence-based, Gis-driven National Spatial Health Information Infrastructure and Surveillance Services in the United Kingdom , 2022 .

[7]  Barry Evans,et al.  Open-Source web-based geographical information system for health exposure assessment , 2012, International Journal of Health Geographics.

[8]  Ori Gudes,et al.  Geographical information systems: an effective planning and decision-making platform for community health coalitions in Australia. , 2010, Health information management : journal of the Health Information Management Association of Australia.

[9]  K. Joyce.  "To me it's just another tool to help understand the evidence": public health decision-makers' perceptions of the value of geographical information systems (GIS). , 2009, Health & place.

[10]  Ori Gudes,et al.  Rethinking Health Planning: A Framework for Organising Information to Underpin Collaborative Health Planning , 2010, Health information management : journal of the Health Information Management Association of Australia.

[11]  Alan M MacEachren,et al.  Informing geospatial toolset design: understanding the process of cancer data exploration and analysis. , 2008, Health & place.

[12]  Bambang Parmanto,et al.  Bmc Medical Informatics and Decision Making Evaluation of Sovat: an Olap-gis Decision Support System for Community Health Assessment Data Analysis , 2007 .

[13]  Diansheng Guo,et al.  Supporting the Process of Exploring and Interpreting Space–Time Multivariate Patterns: The Visual Inquiry Toolkit , 2008, Cartography and geographic information science.

[14]  Anthony C. Robinson,et al.  A design framework exploratory geovisualization in epidemiology , 2007 .

[15]  Jeff Aramini,et al.  A GIS-driven integrated real-time surveillance pilot system for national West Nile virus dead bird surveillance in Canada , 2006, International journal of health geographics.

[16]  Tara Nutley,et al.  Improving the use of health data for health system strengthening , 2013, Global health action.

[17]  Linda Highfield,et al.  Interactive web-based mapping: bridging technology and data for health , 2011, International journal of health geographics.

[18]  W. S. Robinson,et al.  Ecological correlations and the behavior of individuals. , 1950, International journal of epidemiology.

[19]  S El,et al.  HOW IS OUR WORK , 2010 .

[20]  R Gibson Parrish,et al.  Characteristics, desired functionalities, and datasets of state Web-based Data Query Systems. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[21]  Alan M MacEachren,et al.  Distributed usability evaluation of the Pennsylvania Cancer Atlas , 2008, International journal of health geographics.

[22]  Geoffrey Anderson,et al.  Building Web‐Based Spatial Information Solutions around Open Specifications and Open Source Software , 2003, Trans. GIS.

[23]  T. Dummer,et al.  Health geography: supporting public health policy and planning , 2008, Canadian Medical Association Journal.

[24]  Claus Rinner,et al.  Evaluating web-based static, animated and interactive maps for injury prevention. , 2009, Geospatial health.

[25]  Laura Díaz,et al.  Geospatial information infrastructures to address spatial needs in health: Collaboration, challenges and opportunities , 2014, Future Gener. Comput. Syst..

[26]  Denise Love,et al.  Small numbers, disclosure risk, security, and reliability issues in Web-based data query systems. , 2006, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[27]  Sheng Gao,et al.  Online GIS services for mapping and sharing disease information , 2008, International journal of health geographics.

[28]  Anthony C. Robinson.  A Design Framework for Exploratory Geovisualization in Epidemiology , 2007, Inf. Vis..

[29]  J. Scandol,et al.  Health Statistics NSW: getting the right balance between privacy and small numbers in a web-based reporting system. , 2012, New South Wales public health bulletin.

[30]  Anthony C. Robinson,et al.  The geoviz toolkit: using component-oriented coordination methods for geographic visualization and analysis , 2011, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[31]  Geoff A. W. West,et al.  An open source, server-side framework for analytical web mapping and its application to health , 2014, Int. J. Digit. Earth.

[32]  Bambang Parmanto,et al.  Development of SOVAT: A numerical-spatial decision support system for community health assessment research , 2006, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[33]  HardistyFrank,et al.  The geoviz toolkit , 2011 .

[34]  Rob Procter,et al.  User engagement by user-centred design in e-Health , 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[35]  N. Krieger,et al.  Revisiting Robinson: the perils of individualistic and ecologic fallacy. , 2009, International journal of epidemiology.

[36]  A Sutcliffe,et al.  Supporting Creativity and Appreciation of Uncertainty in Exploring Geo-coded Public Health Data , 2009, Methods of Information in Medicine.

[37]  Mary Hayden,et al.  The potential for the use of Open Source Software and Open Specifications in creating Web‐based cross‐border health spatial information systems , 2007, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[38]  Alan M. MacEachren,et al.  Design and Implementation of a Model, Web-based, GIS-Enabled Cancer Atlas , 2008 .

[39]  Claus Rinner,et al.  Exploring the Boundaries of Web Map Services: The Example of the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario , 2011, Trans. GIS.

[40]  Prabhat Jha,et al.  What About Chronic Disease? , 1955, American journal of public health and the nation's health.

[41]  C. M. Croner,et al.  Public health, GIS, and the internet. , 2003, Annual review of public health.

[42]  Jin Chen,et al.  A Visualization System for Space-Time and Multivariate Patterns (VIS-STAMP) , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[43]  R. Gibson Parrish,et al.  Issues in Evaluating Health Department Web-Based Data Query Systems: Working Papers , 2008 .

[44]  James Studnicki,et al.  Determining Community Health Status Priorities in an Online Analytic Processing (OLAP) Environment , 2013, Online journal of public health informatics.

[45]  Monica Chiarini Tremblay,et al.  Doing more with more information: Changing healthcare planning with OLAP tools , 2007, Decis. Support Syst..

[46]  James Studnicki,et al.  NC CATCH: Advancing Public Health Analytics , 2010, Online journal of public health informatics.

[47]  R. Brownson,et al.  Evidence-based public health: a fundamental concept for public health practice. , 2009, Annual review of public health.

[48]  Regional population growth. , 1969, Statistical bulletin.

[49]  R. G. Parrish,et al.  Electronic health records and US public health: current realities and future promise. , 2013, American journal of public health.

[50]  B. Spring,et al.  Tools for Implementing an Evidence-Based Approach in Public Health Practice , 2012, Preventing chronic disease.

[51]  Raoul Kamadjeu,et al.  Web-based public health geographic information systems for resources-constrained environment using scalable vector graphics technology: a proof of concept applied to the expanded program on immunization data , 2006, International journal of health geographics.

[52]  Desmond H Foley,et al.  MosquitoMap and the Mal-area calculator: new web tools to relate mosquito species distribution with vector borne disease , 2010, International journal of health geographics.

[53]  Jin Chen,et al.  Combining Usability Techniques to Design Geovisualization Tools for Epidemiology , 2005, Cartography and geographic information science.

[54]  Anita Kothari,et al.  Using participatory design to develop (public) health decision support systems through GIS , 2007, International journal of health geographics.

[55]  James C Wallace,et al.  Integrating open-source technologies to build low-cost information systems for improved access to public health data , 2008, International journal of health geographics.