GIS and Health (P01238)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : GEO-P-GISSGISH

Health inequalities are defined as disparities between health experience, outcomes and health care that exist between various groups of society. Initiatives to tackle and reduce such inequalities place considerable emphasis on the assimilation and analysis of diverse data sets, the majority of which will have a spatial component. The spatial nature of these datasets places them within the specific domain of GIS and as such, for the purposes of both visualisation and analysis, GIS is recognised as a powerful medium throughout the health sector.

This course will provide students with a background in health geography whilst charting the development of GIS in health. In addition students will explore epidemiological research methods and GIS techniques used in both health care planning and epidemiology. Examples and case studies used will include topics such as epidemiological analysis and disease diffusion, catchment analysis and issues surrounding the accessibility and utilisation of services.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences), (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Block 3 only

? Contact Teaching Time : 4 hour(s) per week for 5 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	09:00	13:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should have achieved and demonstrated, or be able to achieve and demonstrate, the ability to:
-understand the importance of GI and spatial technologies to health and health care service planning and provision
-identify and appraise a variety of views on the spatial aspects of disease and the policies and organisation of health care systems
-critically appraise health related data sources with respect to quality issues and data handling
-design and apply GIS techniques relevant to solving a health / health care research problem
-locate, read and summarise relevant literature, from both traditional and electronic media, to extend your understanding of the topic
-develop reasoned arguments, firmly grounded in the available literature
-plan and write assignments, within the specified parameters and to a professional standard
-take responsibility for your own learning through reading and the preparation of assignments, and reflect upon your learning experience