Call for Participation for URISA's Second GIS in Public Health Conference
June 25, 2008 (Park Ridge, IL) – URISA is now accepting abstract submissions for its Second GIS in Public Health Conference. The conference, themed “Putting Health in Place with GIS,” will take place June 5-8, 2009 in Providence, Rhode Island. The vision for the conference is to provide an open and participatory forum for advancing the effective use of spatial information and geographic information system technologies across the domains of public health, healthcare and community health preparedness.
The Program Committee will organize an educational program based upon the abstracts submitted through the Call for Participation. All abstract submissions, received by October 31, 2008, will be reviewed and considered for this conference. The Program Committee encourages abstract submissions in one or more of the following general categories (examples of topics within each category are included). The committee invites examples of GIS and spatial analysis in these various areas, including case studies, empirical analysis, etc.
All-Hazard Preparedness and Disaster Response
- Bioterrorism and agroterrorism issues
- Interagency cooperation and data sharing
- Data standards and interoperability
- Lessons learned
- Strategic National Stockpile
- Public health preparedness
Environmental Health
- Lead in soil and houses
- Brownfields
- Water quality, septic systems and wells
- Underground storage tank facilities
- Radiation and nuclear power
- Environmental exposure assessment
- Beach monitoring
- Environmental public health tracking
- Environmental justice
Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology
- Food-related outbreaks -- Salmonella and E coli
- Outbreak epidemiology, disease cluster identification and response
- Infectious diseases – e.g. Avian Influenza, measles, Dengue Fever
- International issues and travel medicine
- Cancer, nervous system disorders and other chronic disease
- Aging populations and disabilities
- Injuries prevention
- Nutrition and access to foods
- Wildlife and animal health and vector-borne illness
- Disease atlases
Hospitals and Healthcare
- Facilities management and siting
- Healthcare resources and services delivery
- Patient tracking
- Identification of underserved populations
- Medical/Clinical Research
- Nosocomial and antibiotic-resistant infections
Healthy Communities and Social Factors in Health
- Urban air quality and asthma
- Obesity and urban spaces
- Census demographics
- Health disparities and race
- Land use change and health
- Community Health Status Assessment
Maternal and Child Health
- Infant and child mortality
- Birth outcomes
- Access to social services
- WIC and other social programs
- Immunizations
- Domestic violence
- Fertility and multiple births
Public Policy and Health Advocacy
- Community involvement
- Legal issues
- Planning and health
- Public participation GIS
- Data confidentiality, ethics and privacy
- Health and Human Services
Models, Methods and Spatial Data Infrastructure
- Predictive and statistical spatial models
- Spatial statistics and disease clusters
- Survey-based data (NHIS, BRFSS, PRAMS)
- GIS implementation in public health
- Geocoding and data accuracy
- Public health linkages in the broader geospatial world
- Multi-level modeling
- Web-based delivery of health data and applications
Preconference workshops, a poster session, an exhibition and networking events will accompany the educational program developed for this Second GIS in Public Health Conference. Visit the URISA website , for details and submission guidelines.
