Dr. Oz Likes GIS and other Health GIS News

Dr. Oz and his crew were in Philadelphia giving 15 minute physicals and compiling the data from them for the mayor. Medigadget did an interview with Oz's  medical unit clinical event director, Mike Hoaglin and caught this gem about GIS.

Medgadget:  Are there any trends in medical technology or innovation (e.g. quantified self, big data analytics) that you and Dr. Oz are particularly excited about?

Hoaglin:  In general, much of the data out there remain untapped and hold a treasure trove of information that can really transform the way we think about health. We’re particularly excited about the potential of decoding unstructured data through natural language processing technology, where we can pull critical data elements from prose writing. Incorporating GIS technology into disease surveillance will allow the earlier intervention in devasting health crises as tell-tale symptoms are reported earlier.

- Medgagadget

Health and Human Services Dashboard and other Health GIS News

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today launched of the Health System Measurement Project, an extensive performance dashboard that provides data on about 50 U.S. health system measures, in an accessible, data-driven interactive experience. The breakthrough site, which is powered by the Socrata Data Experience Cloud, is publicly available at HealthMeasures.aspe.hhs.gov.

- press release

A team of researchers argue in Populati that while GIS and GPS are most helpful during the exporation of human disease, the detailed population basedmaps are not yet good enough.

This expansion [of GIS/GPS use] has, however, not been matched by advancements in the development of spatial datasets of human population distribution that accompany disease maps or spatial models.Where risks are heterogeneous across population groups or space or dependent on transmission between individuals, spatial data on human population distributions and demographic structures are required to estimate infectious disease risks, burdens, and dynamics. The disease impact in terms of morbidity, mortality, and speed of spread varies substantially with demographic profiles, so that identifying the most exposed or affected populations becomes a key aspect of planning and targeting interventions.

- 7th Space

Tracking weekly state-level sales data for eight of their over-the counter-products (ranging from anti-nausea to blister remedies), Help created the site ‘What’s Wrong, U.S.?’ that shows the most common ailment affecting a state’s population.

The company, Help, new to me, makes remedies for all these ills which are sold at Walgreens and Target. I'm curious the size of its user base used in the maps.

- PFSK

Michigan’s Center for Geospatial Medicine Gets Diabetes Grant and other Health GIS News

The University of Michigan's Center for Geospatial Medicine will use a $9.8 million federal grant to study Type 2 diabetes in four under-served counties in North Carolina, Mississippi and West Virginia. It focuses on those enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Esri Story Map on Diabetes vs. Obesity and other Health GIS News

Esri's recent map story explores the strong link between obesity and diabetes in the U.S. Nearly a third of Americans are obese.

- via Esri communications

USA Today rounds up medical and safety tracking devices including those for tracking children and patients with Alzheimer's.  One new one to me: Exmobaby, a sensor that sends baby's vitals and "emotional state" from its pajamas to parents. My family lost a baby to SIDS and this is marketed in that space (see FAQ). 

- USA Today

Construction falls sometimes injure and sometimes kill. CWPR (The Center for Construction Research and Training - I know the acronym does not work me, either) has a map of all falls and one of fatal ones from 2011 (built on ArcGIS Online best I can tell). There is a call for data points from 2012.

- Stop Constuction Falls via EHS Today

Teacher Seminars on Climate Change and Health and other Education GIS News

This summer, IAGT and CIESIN are offering two opportunities for high school teachers and educators to learn how they can get their students to explore the impacts of climate change on human health. During these two Institutes, educators will use a geographic information system (GIS) called CHANGE Viewer, developed from NASA World Wind, to explore how a change in climate will impact human health.  The CHANGE Viewer provides access to climate and human datasets needed to ask, visualize, and answer questions about where and how climate change will impact people around the world.

Each one is three days in New York State and include a small stipend.

- Climate Change Human Health via @josephkerski

 Appalachian State University is offering a Master of Arts degree in geography with a planning concentration beginning in August on the UNC-Asheville campus.

The degree will be offered online and in residence; applications due July 1.

- Blue Ridge Now

How do you combine Green Maps (those geared to sustainabiity), geography education and dance? They do it at Weber State College in Utah and have driven up geography assessment scores for elementary students. How?

Each year, Weber State does an outreach program in the community. This year, it decided to use the green map project. Lawrence and her students took the mapping and dance project to schools in Ogden, where the students learned dances about water, plants and animal life that were represented by icons on the map.

Dancers from Weber State University performed at schools during assemblies. They worked closely with fourth- and sixth-graders at Horace Mann Elementary twice a week for 10 weeks, teaching them mapping and dance.

Students would re-create a biome, such as the high desert, by holding poses that represented rocks, cactus and sage while other students would move as animals through the dancescape, Lawrence said.

- Salt Lake City Tribune