Small variety stores ( n=44, called “bodegas” in our community) and fast-food restaurants ( n=32) predominate. Different icons indicate different types of businesses. Icons indicate sources of exercise (11 sites, nearly all playgrounds) and sources of food (113 in total). At the center of this map is the Montefiore Comprehensive Health Care Center (a federally funded community health center) run by Montefiore Medical Center on the western border is Yankee Stadium. In 2006, with guidance from JF, the interns were able to construct their own maps.įigure 1 was generated using Google Earth. In 2005, the interns collected the addresses for the map and one of the authors (JF) used Map Info™ 24 to make the actual map. They were to note the names, addresses, and characteristics of places at which food was available for purchase, as well as venues for indoor and outdoor exercise. This is an area of approximately one square mile. Interns were instructed to survey the 20 city blocks closest to their clinics. The mapping exercise was one of several activities designed to help interns understand the social determinants of diabetes and obesity to better inform their clinical practice and develop advocacy activities. We chose these items to map because of the wide international literature linking the density of fast-food restaurants 20 – 22 and other neighborhood characteristics 14, 23 with low-income neighborhoods and obesity. 19 In 20, we chose to map sources of exercise and food in the neighborhoods around the clinics where we practice. Mapping exercises have been part of the orientation for many years and draw on existing departmental interest and expertise. During this month, we introduce the interns (many of whom are not from New York) to the health problems of the Bronx and their social determinants. As part of this training, interns are given a month-long orientation to the Bronx and to social medicine. The Montefiore Medical Center Residency Program in Social Medicine is a unique residency program that trains board-eligible clinicians (family physicians, internists, and pediatricians) to work in underserved communities. While we briefly describe our investigations and findings in this article, our primary goal is to demonstrate the capabilities of Google Earth as an inexpensive yet effective mapping technology that allows health professionals (and potentially community members) to better understand their social environment.ĬASE 1: MAPPING PLACES TO GET FOOD AND TO EXERCISE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOGLE EARTH AND GOOGLE EARTH PRO FREEIn the second case, medical students evaluated the availability of nutritious foods in the stores surrounding a student-run free clinic. In the first case, medical residents mapped sources of food and exercise around their outpatient clinical site. This article reports on two case studies of the use of Google Earth for community mapping in Bronx neighborhoods. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOGLE EARTH AND GOOGLE EARTH PRO SOFTWAREPeople who are not familiar with mapping software can be easily trained to use Google Earth, and the resultant maps can be shared over the Internet. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOGLE EARTH AND GOOGLE EARTH PRO PLUSGoogle Earth allows sites to be identified in a variety of ways: by pointing to a location on a map, by inputting an individual address, or (in the Plus version) by importing addresses from a spreadsheet file or database. Map locations can be displayed with varied icons, allowing a visual ranking or classification system. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOGLE EARTH AND GOOGLE EARTH PRO FOR FREEUnlike commercial mapping software, they are available either for free (Google Earth) or for a modest price (Google Earth Plus). Google Earth and Google Earth Plus™ 17 mapping software have several advantageous features for such community mapping. Such an approach is congruent with the extensive literature examining neighborhoods and their effects on health. The community diagnosis informs not only individual clinical practice, but also community-wide efforts to promote health. 11 COPC was originally developed in the 1940s by the Karks in South Africa and was described by them as “a practice of social medicine.” 12 COPC begins with a community diagnosis, which is often based on detailed community maps. 8 Consistent with the principles of social medicine, 9, 10 we have adopted an approach incorporating elements of Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC). Diabetes and obesity are important problems in the predominantly working-class and immigrant communities served by the Department of Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |