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Abstract #148804

Christina Zarcadoolas, PhD, Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1043, New York, NY 10029, Jennefer Boyer, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, MPH Program, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, Arthi Krishnaswami, MA, Siegel+Gale, 510 E. 88 Street, 2B, New York, NY 10128, 401-663-2734, arthi.krishnaswami@gmail.com, and Andrea Rothenberg, MS, LCSW, Health Education Department, Mount Sinai Hospital, One Gustave L Levy Place, Box 1502, New York, NY 10029.

Background: Despite the growing popularity of Geographic Information System (GIS) information maps as tools in public health and emergency preparedness, there is little known about the ability of inner city residents to read and use GIS information. Objectives: Using a GIS map from New York City's Office of Emergency Management Storm Surge Report, researchers sought to determine if residents could use the map to identify whether or not they lived in a hurricane evacuation zone, and locate where the nearest evacuation center was. Methods: researchers conducted 178 interviews with adult residents of East and Central Harlem (134 English-speaking, 44 Spanish-speaking), randomly selected and interviewed at various locations. Results: Findings reveal that a majority of less educated adults (those not completing high school) could not read and use the maps for basic and vital information. Forty percent (40%) of those who had not graduated high school could not find where they lived on the map, and 83% could not correctly identify what hurricane evacuation zone they lived in. Conversely, those who had completed high school were 9.4 times as likely to be able to correctly identify their zone. Eighty three percent (83%) of those with a lower education did not know how to get to the evacuation center closest to their home. Discussion: Given the high rates of under-education in urban centers the researchers conclude there is a real and dangerous gap between the language and design of GIS and the abilities of millions of adults to interpret and use this information a currently presented. Implications for redesign and revising language will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation the audience will

• be introduced to the important role of GIS technology in emergency preparedness.
• be able to identify key health literacy demands of a GIS map used to communicate emergency preparedness
• be familiar with some specific questions about GIS requiring future research to meet the needs of average to low literacy end users.

Keywords: Public Health Informatics, Health Literacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.