Mapping social determinants to enhance health inequities

Background: The World Health Organization's Commission on Social Determinants of Health is releasing a new report this year as a call to action for a global movement to find and ameliorate the causes of social inequities. One of the tools we have employed in ten years of utilizing a community-based research approach is to include social and economic indicators of health as a measure of disadvantage in a comprehensive geographic information system. These indicators have been geocoded at the census tract level for analysis with other measures. Objective/Purpose: The purpose has been to identify more robustly the underserved in sub-county areas of a very large urban city and surrounding areas. Methods: Using primary and secondary data, we have combined indicators such as poverty, uninsured rates, race/ethnicity and mortality to assist in the identification of the underserved. Additionally, we have included specific classes of resources, such as safety net clinics, licensed child care centers, schools and health care services. All of these indicators are presented on interactive maps and accessed through targeted portals, such as the Project Safety Net portal. Results: The results have included increased knowledge and awareness about the underserved in a major US city, leading to increased access to health care, enhanced capacity and more empowered community residents. By using a social determinants approach, selected neighborhoods can be identified as disadvantaged, thus helping to prioritize needed public health interventions, and in turn, leading to a more just health system. Discussion/Conclusions: Targeted GIS portals can be implemented to assist public health planners, providers and the interested public to achieve a more equitable health system, as proposed by the WHO.