Breadth and depth in research on health disparities: commentary on the work of Nancy Krieger

Geocoding and spatial analysis of data describing populations and health events are important methods in health social science now carried out using GIS technology. This commentary considers Nancy Krieger's work on health disparities in light of the various ways individuals and organizations us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:GeoJournal 2009-04, Vol.74 (2), p.115-121
Main Author: Cromley, Ellen K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to health care
Aggregates
Breast cancer
Census tracts
Censuses
Community
Environmental Management
Epidemiology
Forum on Nancy Krieger's geospatial approach to social epidemiology
Geographic information systems
Geographical information systems
Geography
Health care inequality
Health disparities
Health inequality
Health promotion
Human Geography
Krieger, Nancy
Neighborhoods
Population
Population characteristics
Public health
Review articles
Social classes
Social conditions & trends
Social Sciences
Spatial analysis
Studies
Surveillance
White people
Womens health
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Summary:Geocoding and spatial analysis of data describing populations and health events are important methods in health social science now carried out using GIS technology. This commentary considers Nancy Krieger's work on health disparities in light of the various ways individuals and organizations use geocoded population and health data: analyzing spatial patterns of health and disease including health disparities, aggregating data spatially, assessing health status of individuals based on characteristics of aggregates, modeling neighborhood contextual factors affecting health, designing observation and intervention studies, and delivering health interventions and services. The extent to which her work addresses each of these purposes is considered. The strengths and limitations of the research including choice of spatial analytic units and techniques as reported in the published work are discussed. Krieger's work, with her colleagues, has used standard methods of spatial analysis to raise the profile of GIS and spatial analysis in the public health community.
ISSN:0343-2521
1572-9893
DOI:10.1007/s10708-009-9264-y