Introduction:

The number of adults with visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision) is increasing, especially with the aging of the population. Although awareness of vision loss as a public health problem is growing, public health budgets are decreasing. This study exemplifies the use of publicly available secondary data and geographic information system (GIS) mapping to spatially map areas of potential higher risk for vision loss and identify where specialized, low vision resources are located, by county, in Michigan.

Methods:

County-level, publicly available data on risk factors for low vision (health and demographic) and specialized low vision resources (medical, rehabilitation, and community) are extracted from existing public health data sets and information published on the Internet. GIS mapping is applied to visually examine potential areas of disparity between need and resources.

Results:

Broadly speaking, counties in Michigan with the highest number of risk factors for low vision are clustered in the center of the Lower Peninsula and on the eastern and western ends of the Upper Peninsula. Areas that have fewer resources for low vision are clustered in the thumb area and the middle to upper part of the Lower Peninsula. Resources are concentrated near the state’s metropolitan areas (i.e., Detroit and suburbs, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids).

Discussion:

Maps can be helpful in locating areas of health disparities, but they need to be interpreted carefully such as by considering the county’s population size. Understanding the eligibility criteria of available services can help to uncover groups of persons not being served.

Implications for practitioners:

With increasing need for services and shrinking budgets, strategic planning may help alleviate anticipated shortfalls in available services. Use of publicly available data and GIS mapping may be an affordable and efficient method to identify areas of need and resources, for targeted public health efforts in vision.

中文翻译：

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在专门的低视资源和密歇根州需求区域检查中使用地理信息系统地图

介绍：

视力障碍（即失明或弱视）的成年人数量正在增加，尤其是随着人口老龄化。尽管将视力丧失作为一种公共卫生问题的意识正在增强，但公共卫生预算却在减少。这项研究举例说明了使用可公开获得的辅助数据和地理信息系统（GIS）映射来对潜在的视力丧失风险较高的区域进行空间地图绘制，并确定密歇根州各县的专业低视力资源的位置。

方法：

从现有的公共卫生数据集和互联网上发布的信息中提取县级，公开的有关低视力（健康和人口统计学）和专门的低视力资源（医疗，康复和社区）风险因素的数据。GIS映射用于可视化检查需求和资源之间潜在的差异区域。

结果：

从广义上讲，密歇根州视力低风险因素最多的县聚集在下半岛的中部以及上半岛的东，西端。弱视资源较少的区域聚集在拇指区域和下半岛的中上部。资源集中在该州的都会区（即底特律和郊区，卡拉马祖和大瀑布城）附近。

讨论：

地图可以帮助您找到健康差异的地区，但是需要仔细地解释它们，例如考虑该县的人口规模。了解可用服务的资格标准可以帮助发现未被服务的人群。

对从业者的启示：

随着对服务需求的增加和预算的缩减，战略规划可能有助于缓解可用服务的预期不足。使用公开可用的数据和GIS映射可能是一种可负担得起的有效方法，可以确定有需要的领域和资源，以实现有针对性的公共卫生工作。