Last week we learned what health geography is, and this week we discussed the GIS application in health geography. There are four major applications for GIS in the field: 

• Spatial epidemiology: spatial epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states in populations and the application of the research to control health problems. There are four components: disease mapping, cluster detection, spatial exposure assessment and assessment of the risk of disease. Disease mapping describes patterns of disease and explores the spatial patterns. Cluster detection displays the bounded groups of occurrences. Exposure assessment is the study of human contact with chemical, physical, biological or social agents occurring in their environments. It examines the mechanisms and dynamics of events and how they relate to health outcomes. Methods available for exposure calculation include proximity,  interpolation, spatial modelling and satellite data.                                                   
• Environmental hazards: environmental hazard is a substance, a state or an event which has the potential to threaten the surrounding natural environment or adversely affect people’s health, including pollution and natural disaster. GIS applies in the field to identify the causal and mitigating factors.
• Modelling health services &  Identifying health inequalities: GIS can also be used in the two fields. One example is the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA). The GIS model allows the accessibility to any service to be calculated form all populated places in Australia. Another example is heart disease and healthcare accessibility.