IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i12p7128-d835887.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Creating a Healthy Environment for Children: GIS Tools for Improving the Quality of the Social Welfare Management System

Author

Listed:
  • Alina Źróbek-Różańska

    (Department of Socio-Economic Geography, Faculty of Geoengineering, Institute of Spatial Management and Geography, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Marek Ogryzek

    (Department of Land Management and Geographic Information Systems, Faculty of Geoengineering, Institute of Spatial Management and Geography, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Anna Źróbek-Sokolnik

    (Department of Socio-Economic Geography, Faculty of Geoengineering, Institute of Spatial Management and Geography, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

Abstract

Childhood is considered to be the most vital period for mental, physical, and social development. Even short-term deprivation of nutrition, health care, education, and affection in childhood can have long-term and irreversible negative consequences. Various social assistance programs are being launched around the world to eliminate or alleviate social problems, including those experienced by children in their immediate environment. Different solutions have been proposed around the world, but welfare systems in all countries share the following common features: social assistance is necessary and underfinanced, and social workers struggle to cope with caseloads. As a result, welfare work is stressful and not highly effective. In this study, modern Geographic Information System (GIS) tools for supporting the employees of social assistance centers (SACs) have been proposed. The data relating to welfare beneficiaries were analyzed by nonparametric kernel density estimation and divided into five datasets. The kernel density tool in ArcGIS Pro software (Esri Polska sp. z o.o., Warsaw, Poland) was used to visualize areas with a relatively high prevalence of social problems, as well as areas where the neighborhood can deliver synergistic effects. A multicriteria analysis (MCA) procedure for mapping social problems was proposed, and an algorithm was developed in the GIS environment. The generated maps deliver helpful information for supporting SAC employees, as well as monitoring, planning, and initiating preventive measures. Above all, the presented method was designed to improve living conditions by facilitating the management of welfare workers’ duties. Therefore, the proposed approach had to be effective and easy to use without an advanced knowledge of GIS tools.

Suggested Citation

  • Alina Źróbek-Różańska & Marek Ogryzek & Anna Źróbek-Sokolnik, 2022. "Creating a Healthy Environment for Children: GIS Tools for Improving the Quality of the Social Welfare Management System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7128-:d:835887
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7128/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7128/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bassier, Ihsaan & Budlender, Joshua & Zizzamia, Rocco & Leibbrandt, Murray & Ranchhod, Vimal, 2021. "Locked down and locked out: Repurposing social assistance as emergency relief to informal workers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. de Senna, Viviane & Souza, Adriano Mendonça, 2016. "Assessment of the relationship of government spending on social assistance programs with Brazilian macroeconomic variables," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 462(C), pages 21-30.
    3. Zheng Yuan & Baohua Wen & Cheng He & Jin Zhou & Zhonghua Zhou & Feng Xu, 2022. "Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis to Rural Spatial Sustainability Evaluation: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-31, May.
    4. Zhang, Haomiao, 2016. "Social assistance for poor children in urban China: A qualitative study from the recipients' perspective," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 122-127.
    5. Janus, Jakub, 2021. "The COVID-19 shock and long-term interest rates in emerging market economies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    6. Li, Yunsen & Yang, Haoran & Luo, Liang, 2021. "Poverty exposure and cognitive abilities of children in rural China: Causation and the roles of family investments," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Bessell, Sharon & Siagian, Clara & Bexley, Angie, 2020. "Towards child-inclusive concepts of childhood poverty: The contribution and potential of research with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    8. Ouoba, Youmanli & Sawadogo, Natéwindé, 2022. "Food security, poverty and household resilience to COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: Evidence from urban small traders’ households," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    9. Francesca Abastante & Isabella M. Lami & Luigi La Riccia & Marika Gaballo, 2020. "Supporting Resilient Urban Planning through Walkability Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Jingxuan, 2021. "Identifying the gap between basic needs and public services for children in urban China’s low-income families: A study in Dalian, China, from the provider's perspective," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Zhao, Chunkai & Chen, Boou & Song, Zhiyong, 2024. "School nutritious feeding and cognitive abilities of students in poverty: Evidence from the nutrition improvement program in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    3. Marcin K. Widomski & Anna Musz-Pomorska, 2023. "Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Poland since 2004 in the Light of Sustainability Indicators," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-29, February.
    4. Ouoba, Youmanli & Sawadogo, Natéwindé, 2022. "Food security, poverty and household resilience to COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: Evidence from urban small traders’ households," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    5. Cristiano Ziegler & Renan Mitsuo Ueda & Tiago Sinigaglia & Felipe Kreimeier & Adriano Mendonça Souza, 2022. "Correlation of Climatic Factors with the Weight of an Apis mellifera Beehive," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-13, April.
    6. Lumengo Bonga-Bonga & Thabiso Molemohi & Frederich Kirsten, 2023. "The Role of Personal Characteristics in Shaping Gender-Biased Job Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Maryam Kiani Sadr & Roghayeh Parchianloo & Sedighe Abdollahi & Hamta Golkarian, 2023. "Application of weighted aggregated sum product assessment and geographical information system for urban development zoning," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 845-863, September.
    8. Janus, Jakub, 2023. "Flights to safe assets in bond markets: Evidence from emerging market economies," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    9. Michael Danquah & Simone Schotte & Kunal Sen, 2020. "COVID-19 and Employment: Insights from the Sub-Saharan African Experience," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(1), pages 23-30, October.
    10. Helen Barnes & Gabriel Espi-Sanchis & Murray Leibbrandt & David McLennan & Michael Noble & Jukka Olavi Pirttilä & Wynnona Steyn & Brenton Van Vrede & Gemma Wright, 2021. "Analysis of the Distributional Effects of COVID-19 and State-led Remedial Measures in South Africa," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 14(2), pages 2-31.
    11. Paweł Ziemba, 2020. "Multi-Criteria Stochastic Selection of Electric Vehicles for the Sustainable Development of Local Government and State Administration Units in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, November.
    12. Feng Wang & Min Wu, 2021. "The Impacts of COVID-19 on China’s Economy and Energy in the Context of Trade Protectionism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Zhang, Chi & Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Shanlin & Shao, Zhen, 2017. "Exploring the transformation and upgrading of China’s economy using electricity consumption data: A VAR–VEC based model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 473(C), pages 144-155.
    14. Aroop Chatterjee & Léo Czajka & Amory Gethin, 2021. "Can Redistribution Keep Up with Inequality? Evidence from South Africa, 1993-2019," PSE Working Papers halshs-03364039, HAL.
    15. Köhler, Timothy & Bhorat, Haroon & Hill, Robert & Stanwix, Benjamin, 2023. "Lockdown stringency and employment formality: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 57, pages 1-3.
    16. Hamid El Bilali & Lawali Dambo & Jacques Nanema & Sheirita Reine Fanta Tietiambou & Iro Dan Guimbo & Romaric Kiswendsida Nanema, 2023. "Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Agri-Food Systems in West Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-23, July.
    17. Egamberdiev, Bekhzod & Bobojonov, Ihtiyor & Kuhn, Lena & Glauben, Thomas, 2023. "Household resilience capacity and food security: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 15(4), pages 967-988.
    18. Grazia Brunetta & Alessandra Faggian & Ombretta Caldarice, 2021. "Bridging the Gap: The Measure of Urban Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-4, January.
    19. Haroon BHORAT & Timothy KÖHLER & David de VILLIERS, 2023. "Can Cash Transfers to the Unemployed Support Economic Activity? Evidence from South Africa," Working Paper 4968cbec-99ab-4279-a6d8-2, Agence française de développement.
    20. Ihsaan Bassier, 2021. "The impact of centralized bargaining on spillovers and the wage structure in monopsonistic labour markets," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-132, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7128-:d:835887. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.