%0 Journal Article
%T Emerging applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in community and local mental health research
%A James S. Brown
%J Journal of Local and Global Health Perspectives
%D 2013
%I Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals
%R 10.5339/jlghp.2013.5
%X Medical geography or the use of geography to study disease traces back to ancient times (Meade and Earickson 2005). After the late 17th-century, medical geography became more formalized with developments in cartography and the introduction of maps of disease distribution (Koch 2005). By the 20th-century, medical geographers developed sophisticated statistical methods of geographical epidemiology to create maps allowing the spatial analysis of health-related issues (Elliott et al. 1997). For example, in mental health research, spatial analysis of geographic patterns of mental disorders led to the correlation of urban environments with increased risk for severe mental disorders (Freeman 1984). During recent years, technological innovation in computer mapping referred to as geographic information systems (GIS) significantly enhanced the analysis of health questions in small local areas such as census blocks and neighborhoods. GIS analyses have shown superiority to classical geographic techniques in these small areas that eluded accurate investigation in the past.
%U jlghp.2013.5.pdf