Deborah Dunn, MPH DrPH Student College Of Public Health Graduate Center of Gerontology

 Communities must start to recognize the needs of various older subpopulations Identifying local resources to address those needs  Tasks are often complicated Older population growth attributable to new elderly Migration patterns of older cohorts Population density and resource availability or access Integration of community resources and service delivery systems Barriers to service resources

Geographic Information systems (GIS) can assist researchers and practitioners engaged in community specific analyses that focuses on the older populations and their resource environments.

 Briefly define GIS  Community based gerontology study  Challenges & opportunities in application  Questions and Answers

 GIS allows us to map a wide variety of geographical phenomena  GIS links selected attribute information with digital representations of features in space Economic, Social, Health, Nominal Data Points, lines, polygons represent hospitals, ADD, senior centers

 Visualization of statistical data Revealing patterns and distributions  Spatial methods using overlay analysis Allows users to create a new layer of information By combining data elements from two or more existing layers Synthesis of multiple layers generates new information

Faith Based Organizations Prevalence of Poverty by Census tract Faith Based Organizations in High Poverty Tracts

 Number of features located inside or outside a specified radius, or corridor  Shortest route and time of travel between two points

 Map longitudinal community data of adults over age 65  Depict age-specific population distribution and density patterns  Identify geographic concentrations of various elderly populations (ethnic minorities, older widows)  At risk populations with incomes below 125% of poverty

 Locate community resources for older people  Evaluate the spatial relationship between potentially at risk older and needed resources  Plan transportation routes  Generate research questions and hypotheses

 Multi-methodological study conducted in KY  Characteristics and needs of older county residents and the adequacy of existing resources to meet those needs  Influx of older rural Appalachian residents to the urban city coupled with aging in place of baby boomers to predict resource adequacies

 Validate and justify planning and resource allocation directed at current and projected needs of community dwelling older county residents Community based waiver  Make informed decisions regarding Capital development

 GIS was the first modality undertaken Provided important baseline information regarding key population characteristics of older county residents Located critical public and non profit and private sector county resources available Identified geographic gaps between older populations and community resources that might reflect an unmet need

 Use of Kentucky counties as a unit of analysis Older residents access out of state services Border county residents are especially likely to go across state lines if there are more resources in another state Some resources such as the VA or clinics are in another county and patients must use these services  Luckily the VA is in Fayette county and the FQHC of Lexington Public Health

 Percentage change in the 65 and older population from 2000 to 2010 Just in Fayette County  2000=  2010= 31, 138 adults over the age of 65  2020 = 51,519+31,138 *.10= 79,657

Percent of People Below Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months (Kentucky: Estimate: 17.4 Percent, Margin of Error: +/-0.3 Percent)

 Questions that come out of mapping can be further addressed in community forums  Complements other research modalities regularly used in studies of older community based populations  GIS products may raise specific research questions and aid in the formation of a hypothesis

Geographic Information systems (GIS) can assist researchers and practitioners engaged in community specific analyses that focuses on the older populations and their resource environments.

 Thank you for your attendance and time  Questions?

 Arnoff, S (1991). Geographic information systems: A management perspective. Ottawa, Canada; WDL  Rowles, G. D. & Johansson, H.K. (1993). Persistent elderly poverty in rural Appalachia. Journal of applied gerontology. 12:  Rowles, G. D.(1981) Geographical dimensions of social support in rural Appalachia. Aging and Milieu. San Diego  US Census Bureau (2010). Census of population and housing. Summary file. Washington DC. Tiger line files.