Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning
Introduction: In the context of climate emergency, advances in geographic information systems, geocoding, and geomedicine allow us to go beyond the conventional usual scales and be aligned with people’s needs, improving knowledge and accuracy of the spatial pattern of health outcomes. This study sho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Karger Publishers
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Portuguese Journal of Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/527162 |
| _version_ | 1828038071213359104 |
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| author | Liliane Morais António Lopes Jorge Rocha Paulo Jorge Nogueira |
| author_facet | Liliane Morais António Lopes Jorge Rocha Paulo Jorge Nogueira |
| author_sort | Liliane Morais |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: In the context of climate emergency, advances in geographic information systems, geocoding, and geomedicine allow us to go beyond the conventional usual scales and be aligned with people’s needs, improving knowledge and accuracy of the spatial pattern of health outcomes. This study shows that the geographical scale of analysis affects the interpretation of health outcomes. Methods: All mortality that occurred in Portugal in 2014–2017 was geocoded. From 435,291 addresses, 412,608 were geocoded with success. As an example, we use the spatial patterns of the elderly’s heat-related cardiorespiratory mortality. Results: It is shown: (i) it is possible to have high quality and accuracy of spatial data used in health outcomes analysis; (ii) how geographic scales reveal different degrees of detail in health outcomes analysis; (iii) the neighbourhood scale revealed different patterns of cardiorespiratory mortality from the usually available scale (parish). Discussion: Our findings suggest the relevance of geocoding health outcomes with a finer scale in tackling the challenges of the healthcare sector, and in support of planning decision-making, closely matching citizens’ needs. Without running the risk of losing potentially major prospects, better healthcare management is achievable, with optimal resource allocation, and improved detailed and informed policymaking, allowing enhanced climate health equity in cities promotion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:20:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-904d03704d8f424c9579f2283490b614 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-3137 2504-3145 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:20:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Karger Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Portuguese Journal of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-904d03704d8f424c9579f2283490b6142023-02-09T15:14:03ZengKarger PublishersPortuguese Journal of Public Health2504-31372504-31452023-01-0140314015410.1159/000527162527162Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban PlanningLiliane Morais0António Lopes1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9357-7639Jorge Rocha2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7228-6330Paulo Jorge Nogueira3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8316-5035ISAMB – Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Instituto de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalLaboratório Associado TERRA, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalLaboratório Associado TERRA, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalISAMB – Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Instituto de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalIntroduction: In the context of climate emergency, advances in geographic information systems, geocoding, and geomedicine allow us to go beyond the conventional usual scales and be aligned with people’s needs, improving knowledge and accuracy of the spatial pattern of health outcomes. This study shows that the geographical scale of analysis affects the interpretation of health outcomes. Methods: All mortality that occurred in Portugal in 2014–2017 was geocoded. From 435,291 addresses, 412,608 were geocoded with success. As an example, we use the spatial patterns of the elderly’s heat-related cardiorespiratory mortality. Results: It is shown: (i) it is possible to have high quality and accuracy of spatial data used in health outcomes analysis; (ii) how geographic scales reveal different degrees of detail in health outcomes analysis; (iii) the neighbourhood scale revealed different patterns of cardiorespiratory mortality from the usually available scale (parish). Discussion: Our findings suggest the relevance of geocoding health outcomes with a finer scale in tackling the challenges of the healthcare sector, and in support of planning decision-making, closely matching citizens’ needs. Without running the risk of losing potentially major prospects, better healthcare management is achievable, with optimal resource allocation, and improved detailed and informed policymaking, allowing enhanced climate health equity in cities promotion.https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/527162public healthhealthcare managementpolicymakers awarenessgeographic scalescardiorespiratory mortality |
| spellingShingle | Liliane Morais António Lopes Jorge Rocha Paulo Jorge Nogueira Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning Portuguese Journal of Public Health public health healthcare management policymakers awareness geographic scales cardiorespiratory mortality |
| title | Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning |
| title_full | Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning |
| title_fullStr | Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning |
| title_short | Beyond Usual Geographical Scales of Analysis: Implications for Healthcare Management and Urban Planning |
| title_sort | beyond usual geographical scales of analysis implications for healthcare management and urban planning |
| topic | public health healthcare management policymakers awareness geographic scales cardiorespiratory mortality |
| url | https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/527162 |
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