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A GIS-enabled Age-Friendly Cities Assessment to Improve County Health

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Madeleine J. Kerr, PhD, RN , School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Jess Luce, MPA , Communities for a Lifetime Aging Initiative, Dakota County Public Health Department, West St. Paul, MN
Molly McDonald, BA , U-Spatial, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Background: Age-Friendly Cities is a World Health Organization effort to address environmental and social factors that contribute to active and healthy aging (WHO, 2007). Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for integration and analysis of spatial data are an ideal tool for visualizing age-friendly features on a map.

Purpose: To develop a GIS tool to facilitate Age-Friendly Cities community assessments.

Methods: A prototype mapping tool was developed using Esri ArcGIS Online. Assessment categories included transportation, housing, walking and paths, parks, and services to age in place. Two cohorts of undergraduate public health nursing students used the tool for community assessments. Results from internet sources were validated by ground truthing, a process that uses data gathered by direct observation to confirm data gathered from secondary sources. Results were shared with county health department staff for consideration in the program planning process.

Results: Field testing of the prototype is in progress through May 2014. Formative evaluation results will be shared. Samples of the resulting maps will be displayed to enable comparisons among communities.

Conclusions: A prototype GIS mapping tool can facilitate the community assessment and planning process. This new medium can enable meaningful sharing of community assessment data throughout a county and foster public participation in planning for an age-friendly future for communities.

Learning Areas:

Program planning
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe a GIS-enabled age-friendly cities community assessment.

Keyword(s): Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Needs Assessment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I designed the GIS learning activities and implemented them with students in a public health clinical setting.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4375.0: Health Informatics Information Technology (HIIT) Section Poster Session #2