Course description: This course will familiarize students with the basic knowledge of geographic information systems (GIS) and their application to social work practice and research. The course is organized around three primary areas: 1) conceptual; 2) technical; and 3) data management. A conceptual overview of GIS is presented to provide students with foundational knowledge about the theory, purpose, function, and applicability of GIS in practice and research settings. Students will develop critical thinking skills necessary to devise research questions appropriate for a GIS, to develop a GIS, interpret the findings, and to evaluate the spatial relationships between variables.
If you created a poster before Spring 2015 and would like to make it openly available (Unrestricted) online, please submit the linked Consent Form to digital@wustl.edu.
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Access to Health Variables Among HEALTH Study Participants in the Greater St. Louis Area
Emily Walk and Kaitlin Graff
2-5-2015Access to built environment elements, including bike paths, community gardens, and parks could have the potential to increase physical activity and lower body mass index (BMI). The goal of this project was to examine the access to these elements surrounding the homes of obese women participating in the Healthy Eating & Active Living Taught at Home (HEALTH) study in the Greater St. Louis area.
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Accessibility to Mammogram Centers: A Network Analysis Using Service Areas in St. Louis City and St. Louis County
Salma Abadin
12-9-2014Among women, breast cancer is the most common noncutaneous cancer and second most common cause of cancer-related death. The American Cancer Society recommends that women over age 40 have a mammogram annually. Early detection and treatment of tumors has been associated with a 15% decrease in breast cancer mortality. Mammography screening rates have remained at 67% over the past several years but is lower among African American and uninsured women. This project locates mammogram centers in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, aims to determine the concentration of women over 40 years per 100,000 population and to calculate drive time from the mammogram center to discover any underserved areas.
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Produce Accessibility and Community Health in the Old North St. Louis and Shaw Neighborhoods
E. Gracie Aeschbacher
6-30-2014In light of the recent grocery store closings around Old North St. Louis, the project asks where the alternative sources of produce in the area are, how accessible those sources are, how the North City and Tower Grove Farmers’ Markets impact produce accessibility in the surrounding communities, and if produce accessibility is reflected in other aspects of the neighborhoods, such as health outcomes.
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Foundations of Geographic Information Systems for the Applied Social Sciences Midterm: Lydia’s House
Peg Allen, David Ansong, Joanna Cohen, and Marsela Dauti
12-12-2014Lydia's House works in faith to end domestic violence, by being a place of healing and a voice of hope for abused women and their children. The organization wants to track the location of their supporters, to see change over time in the location of their donors, and if this difference over time varies by type of donor and donation source. This poster describes the GIS analysis used to assist them in focusing future resource development efforts.
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Neighborhood Land Use, Walking, and Cardiorespiratory Fitness among Cooper Clinic Participants in Travis County (Austin), Texas
Peg Allen, Christine Marx, and Christine M. Hoehner
12-12-2014This poster describes an attempt to test for associations of neighborhood land use with clinically measured cardiorespiratory fitness extended from previous research on built environment influences, which has relied mostly on self-reported physical activity. The organization wants to track the location of their supporters, to see change over time in the location of their donors, and if this difference over time varies by type of donor and donation source. GIS and such a report could assist them in focusing future resource development efforts.
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Cardiovascular Disease and Select Risk Factors Among African Americans: A Geographic Look into the Jackson Heart Study
J. Alleyne, C. LaSee, D. Hickson, and M. Sims
12-12-2014Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continue to be the leading cause of death in the US, accounting for 34.4% of all deaths in 2003. Morbidity and mortality rates associated with CVD vary geographically, with the highest rates in southeastern states. African-Americans in Mississippi have historically higher rates of CVD than any racial or ethnic group. This poster is presents local spatial patterns of CVD and CVD risk factors exist among African-Americans residing in the Jackson, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), composed of Madison, Hinds, and Rankin counties?
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Spatial Analysis of the Availability and Accessibility of Banks in Ghana
David Ansong
12-12-2014Ghana’s socioeconomic development and financial growth are directly related to accessibility of financial services. Hence, the country’s ability to strengthen it’s banking sector is critical for it’s economic development. Currently, 80% of Ghanaians do not save with formal financial institutions. Having many Ghanaians outside of the formal financial system does not auger well for the socioeconomic growth of the country. Accumulating savings outside the formal financial sector is unreliable and insecure. Bringing the large population of the unbanked under the formal banking sector would improve Ghana’s economic growth and enhance individuals’ socioeconomic development. This study seeks to investigate the availability and accessibility of banks in Ghana. Other underlying factors, such as population density and literacy rate, that may be associated with decisions on where banks branches are sited are also explored.
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Access to St. Louis City Hospitals, FQHCs, Grocery Stores, and Farmer’s Markets by Public Transit: A Geospatial Analysis
Pravleen Bajwa and Jasmine Williams
5-4-2014This project observes how accessible hospitals, clinics, grocery stores, and farmer’s markets (CCWs) are by public transit options in St. Louis City, MO.
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Shall We Walk? The Correlation Between Objective & Perceived Walkability at Home & Work
Haley Becker and Laural Heermance
12-12-2014Physical inactivity (PI) is a highly modifiable risk factor for obesity and other chronic diseases. Fewer than 50% of adults meet CDC recommendations for physical activity (PA), citing the built environment (BE)— including walkability of streets and neighborhoods— as a reason for limited PA. Understanding the correlation between objective walkability (OW) measures and perceived home walkability (PHW) and perceived workplace walkability (PWW) may have important implications for public health efforts to improve the BE, increase PA, and ultimately combat the negative health effects of PI. This project asks is perceived walkability of the home neighborhood correlated with objective walkability? Is perceived walkability of the workplace neighborhood correlated with objective walkability?
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Disparities in Social Determinants of Health and Obesity in Saint Louis, Missouri
Ngombe Bitendelo and Opio Abari Francis
6-30-2014This project aims to assess the city of St. Louis's obesity rates with respect to other risk factors and possible determinants in order to consider policy recommendations to reverse the trend.
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Hot Spot Analysis: Access to STD Care in St. Louis City
Jahnavi Bongu and Nadia Woods
12-12-2014This poster examines whether sexually transmitted diseases follow a geographical pattern of clustering in the city of St. Louis. Reduced access to sexually transmitted disease care contributes to STD rates. Access to care encompasses: quality of care, utilization of services, and patient satisfaction. Adolescents represent a significant amount of STD cases.
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St. Louis Regional Transit-Oriented Development Demonstration
Andrew Bradley and Cathy Vogel
12-12-2014The purpose of this project is to determine the feasibility of transit-oriented development (TOD) in the Greater St. Louis area and identify a site suitable for a TOD demonstration project.
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Utilizing Geographic Information Systems to Explore the Relationship Between BMI and Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness
Ambriah Brown
5-4-2014This project examines if a Pca is more aggressive in geographic areas with higher rates of obesity by utilizing trans diciplinary GIS tools in the analysis of epidemiological trends.
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Housing Choice Vouchers in St. Louis City and County
Andrew Brown and Joyce Dieterly
12-12-2014Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) provide low-income households subsidies to afford housing they could not otherwise afford. Tenant pays 30% of rent and the government pays the remaining 70%. Goals of HCVs are to provide improved access to housing and to promote integration of urban neighborhoods. Researchers have long suspected that HCVs are not accomplishing their goals, and a growing body of literature supports this hypothesis. This poster examines where HCV recipients are located in St. Louis and how clustered those households are compared to other low income residents.
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Healthy Food Availability for Low- Income Populations in Chicago, IL
Gwen Callaway
12-9-2014Fast food has become an inexpensive, convenient meal option to the tune of rising obesity rates. Accordingly, there are hundreds of locations in every major city – Chicago is no exception. But how does this compare to traditional sources of healthy food especially for low-income populations? This project aims to determine if a disparity exists in availability of healthy foods and if a disparity exists in availability of traditional fast food in Chicago, IL, as well as recommend a location for establishing a healthy food intervention.
