Geographical knowledge has a long history in health. Modern applications include mapping the health of populations, identifying patterns of disease transmission, and locating foci of risk. Geographical methods can also be applied in health adminstration and health economics.

Incidence/Prevalence Mapping

Mapping patterns of disease is a simple yet important component of health surveillance. Such maps can provide a general picture of risk, and are also useful for observing trends over time. Options can range from statistically adjusted thematic maps to simple point maps.

Risk Investigation

Components of the environments in which we live can ocassionally be sources of risk. Investigating the foci of risk exposure--from gathering exposure data to quantitatively investigating unexpected clusters of illness--is an area of considerable interest in many areas of health.

Spatial Statistical Analysis

Not all maps are equal. Depending on the quantity and quality of data, a given map may be useful or misleading. Distinguishing between the two is our speciality. Whether we're using simple kernel estimation or advanced spatial models, we can separate the meaningful information from the spurious.

Health Service Utilization

A GIS can be used to identify and quantify variations in health service usage. This kind of information can help plan the location of new facilities, as well as optimize the range services that facilities offer.

Cluster Detection

Detecting clusters in space, time or a combination of space and time can be an important component of geographic health surveillance. There are a multitude of methods to investigate clustering, many of which may deserve consideration for a specific project. Our role is to help select the most appropriate technique for your data, and then implement the best strategy for getting you meaningful results.