Geography of Health and GIS Analysis Research Group
Health geography studies the relationships between health and place. It is concerned with the interactions of people, society, place, space, and the environment. Health geography is known for its contributions to understanding the spatial pattern and diffusion of disease, environmental exposures, and the location and accessibility of health services. Health geographers practice and promote spatial thinking in the health sciences.
Geographies of health encompass a plurality of research paradigms and methodologies, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial data analysis. The Geography of Health (GoH) group supports geographical enquiry and spatial thinking in population and public health. The GoH group serves as a hub, connecting geographical expertise with health research and practice.
Recent and ongoing activities of the GoH group include the organization of high profile events and successful hands-on workshops to disseminate knowledge and awareness of health geography and GIS.
Updates
Every year the third week of November is Geography Awareness Week, and the Wednesday of that week is celebrated as GIS Day. Once again, like every second year, we organize a celebration for Health GIS day with our GoH members and the broader Health GIS community, in Calgary and beyond.
We are excited to announce our upcoming 5th GIS Day event, “Health GIS: Spatial Thinking in Applied Research (STAR)”, supported by the O’Brien Institute of Public Health, which will be held online on November 20th, 2024.
Building on the tremendous success of our pervious events, which attracted many participants from all over the world, we continue to embrace the virtual format to foster a diverse and inclusive community. By remaining online in 2024, we aim to accommodate and encourage participation from a wider audience, transcending geographical barriers and enabling a richer exchange of ideas and innovations in the field of Health GIS and various applied topics. Join us for a series of enlightening presentations and discussions that highlight the transformative power of GIS in understanding and addressing complex global challenges.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the O’Brien Institute and Esri Canada for their generous support, which has been crucial in making our past events a remarkable success. We also deeply appreciate our dedicated speakers—students, researchers, and public health practitioners—whose contributions have demonstrated the excellence, enthusiasm, and creativity of our Geography of Health study group and wider Health GIS community.