142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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297686
Utilizing GIS maps to translate the burden of falls among older adults into policy opportunities

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Carol Thornton, MPA , Violence and Injury Prevention Program, PA Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA
Micah Victoria , Bureau of Health Statistics and Research, PA Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA
Andrea Smith , Heart Disease and Stroke Program, PA Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA
                 
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background/Purpose: In Pennsylvania, falls are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations and deaths for persons age 65 and older. To raise awareness among state policymakers, a need was recognized to develop a visual depiction of data that would resonate with legislators and their staff.

Methods: Inpatient hospitalization data were used to compare fall-related injury rates for ages 65 and older by county.  Population data from 2010 for each senate and house legislative district was used to calculate the percent of older adults among the adult population in each legislative district.  Data was presented in four maps to allow for visual comparison.

Results: Policymakers were able to visually see by legislative district if there was a significantly high percent of older adult population and its relationship to the corresponding county hospitalization rate.

Conclusions: Based upon this analysis, potential was identified for also mapping the existing falls prevention programs by county as an additional overlay to determine if access to such programs was a factor in the hospitalization rate in a county.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Compare the burden of fall-related injuries among older adults in relationship to older adult population in legislative districts. Assess GIS capabilities to develop audience-specific messages.

Keyword(s): Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Aging

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: as the Section Chief of the Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, I have served in this program for 11 years. As the Section Chief, I supervise two full-time program administration staff and co-supervises a full-time statistical analyst for violence and injury prevention. The VIPP is the administrative lead for the PA Falls Free Coalition.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

Back to: 4046.0: Using GIS and location analysis in injury