IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12419-d929165.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mapping the Way to Good Health: The Interdisciplinary Challenges of Geographers in Medical Research

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Casey Sadler

    (Division of Public Health, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Flint, MI 48502, USA
    Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA)

  • Kristian Larsen

    (CAREX Canada, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
    Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1G6, Canada
    Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada)

Abstract

Geography has an important role to play in shaping the direction of medical research. In particular, its tools and theory provide essential understanding to the impacts of place on health behaviors and outcomes. Understanding some of its evolution—particularly into the subfield of medical geography—is therefore useful both for geographers and medical researchers. In this paper, we present some of the debates that geographers have grappled with, the growth of GIS (particularly in the context of medical research), some important methodological considerations that geographers help center, and some recommendations for future work at this nexus. Throughout, we speak from the perspective of geographers who have worked nearly exclusively in the health sciences since obtaining our PhDs.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Casey Sadler & Kristian Larsen, 2022. "Mapping the Way to Good Health: The Interdisciplinary Challenges of Geographers in Medical Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12419-:d:929165
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12419/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12419/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanna-Attisha, M. & LaChance, J. & Sadler, R.C. & Schnepp, A.C., 2016. "Elevated blood lead levels in children associated with the flint drinking water crisis: A spatial analysis of risk and public health response," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(2), pages 283-290.
    2. Anselin, Luc & Getis, Arthur, 1992. "Spatial Statistical Analysis and Geographic Information Systems," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 26(1), pages 19-33, April.
    3. Amber L. Pearson & Richard C. Sadler & Daniel J. Kruger, 2019. "Social Integration may Moderate the Relationship between Neighborhood Vacancy and Mental Health Outcomes: Initial Evidence from Flint, Michigan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 1129-1144, September.
    4. McMillan, Tracy & Day, Kristen & Boarnet, Marlon & Alfonzo, Mariela & Anderson, Craig, 2006. "Johnny Walks to School - Does Jane? Sex Differences in Children's Active Travel to School," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt22f7k6z8, University of California Transportation Center.
    5. Kristian Larsen & Brian Cook & Michelle Stone & Guy Faulkner, 2015. "Food access and children’s BMI in Toronto, Ontario: assessing how the food environment relates to overweight and obesity," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(1), pages 69-77, January.
    6. Jing Chen, 2013. "Canadian Lung Cancer Relative Risk from Radon Exposure for Short Periods in Childhood Compared to a Lifetime," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-11, May.
    7. Sadler, Richard C. & Hippensteel, Christopher & Nelson, Victoria & Greene-Moton, Ella & Furr-Holden, C. Debra, 2019. "Community-engaged development of a GIS-based healthfulness index to shape health equity solutions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 63-75.
    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. Sadler, Richard C. & Wojciechowski, Thomas W. & Buchalski, Zachary & Smart, Mieka & Mulheron, Megan & Todem, David, 2022. "Validating a geospatial healthfulness index with self-reported chronic disease and health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    2. Xinyue Ye & Sergio Rey, 2013. "A framework for exploratory space-time analysis of economic data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), pages 315-339, February.
    3. Roger Bivand, 2008. "Implementing Representations Of Space In Economic Geography," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-27, February.
    4. Stewart, Orion & Vernez Moudon, Anne & Claybrooke, Charlotte, 2012. "Common ground: Eight factors that influence walking and biking to school," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 240-248.
    5. Rama Natarajan & Dana Aljaber & Dawn Au & Christine Thai & Angelica Sanchez & Alan Nunez & Cristal Resto & Tanya Chavez & Marta M. Jankowska & Tarik Benmarhnia & Jiue-An Yang & Veronica Jones & Jernej, 2020. "Environmental Exposures during Puberty: Window of Breast Cancer Risk and Epigenetic Damage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Kunwar, Samrat B. & Khatiwada, Niraj & Rahman, Mohammad Mashiur & Liu, Menqui & Thapa, Swati & Bohara, Alok K. & Wang, Jingjing, 2023. "Reimagining Teaching Water Issues through Experiential Learning," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(3), September.
    7. Ye, Xinyue & Yue, Wenze, 2014. "Comparative analysis of regional development: Exploratory space-time data analysis and open source implementation," Economics Discussion Papers 2014-20, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Jason A. Hubbart & Kaylyn S. Gootman, 2021. "A Call to Broaden Investment in Drinking Water Testing and Community Outreach Programs," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Jiaqi Li & Yi Tian, 2024. "Assessment of Ecological Quality and Analysis of Influencing Factors in Coal-Bearing Hilly Areas of Northern China: An Exploration of Human Mining and Natural Topography," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, July.
    10. Shan Parker & Vicki Johnson-Lawrence, 2022. "Addressing Trauma-Informed Principles in Public Health through Training and Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-14, July.
    11. Tuviere Onookome-Okome & Angel Hsu & Dean G. Kilpatrick & Angela Moreland & Aaron Reuben, 2023. "Association of Public Works Disasters with Substance Use Difficulties: Evidence from Flint, Michigan, Five Years after the Water Crisis Onset," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(23), pages 1-12, November.
    12. Deniz Yeter & Ellen C. Banks & Michael Aschner, 2020. "Disparity in Risk Factor Severity for Early Childhood Blood Lead among Predominantly African-American Black Children: The 1999 to 2010 US NHANES," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-26, February.
    13. Hyunwoo Lim & Minyoung Park, 2019. "Modeling the Spatial Dimensions of Warehouse Rent Determinants: A Case Study of Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    14. Kai Chen & Xiaoping Lin & Han Wang & Yujie Qiang & Jie Kong & Rui Huang & Haining Wang & Hui Liu, 2022. "Visualizing the Knowledge Base and Research Hotspot of Public Health Emergency Management: A Science Mapping Analysis-Based Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-23, June.
    15. Pojani, Dorina & Boussauw, Kobe, 2014. "Keep the children walking: active school travel in Tirana, Albania," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 55-65.
    16. Rui Wang & Xi Chen & Xun Li, 2022. "Something in the pipe: the Flint water crisis and health at birth," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1723-1749, October.
    17. Burhan Can Karahasan & Firat Bilgel, 2017. "Access to Healthcare, Utilization and Health Outcomes in Turkey," Working Papers 1089, Economic Research Forum, revised 04 2017.
    18. Singh, Nishant & Vasudevan, Vinod, 2018. "Understanding school trip mode choice – The case of Kanpur (India)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 283-290.
    19. Zhi Zhang & Zhiwei Wan & Shan Xu & Hong Wu & Lingyue Liu & Zhao Chen & Ji Zeng, 2023. "Environmental Adaptation in the Process of Human-Land Relationship in Southeast China’s Ethnic Minority Areas and Its Significance on Sustainable Development," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, February.
    20. Daniel S. Grossman & David J.G. Slusky, 2019. "The Impact of the Flint Water Crisis on Fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2005-2031, December.

    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:19:p:12419-:d:929165. 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.