Qualitative GIS and the Visualization of Narrative Activity Space Data

Neighbourhood environments for a healthy lifestyle among young single-person households experiencing housing poverty in Seoul, South Korea: a spatiotemporal qualitative study protocol

INTRODUCTION

The number of single-person households is increasing globally-including in South Korea, where they account for over 30% of all households. Young single-person households in South Korea face health problems and housing challenges. Both the perceived and objective aspects of the neighbourhood environment, as a community asset, play a significant role in sustaining a healthy lifestyle. This study aims to explore and describe the meaning, roles and spatiotemporal characteristics of neighbourhood environments for a healthy lifestyle in young single-person households experiencing housing poverty in Seoul, South Korea.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This ongoing study uses an extended qualitative geographic information systems approach to explore a district in the city of Seoul that has the highest population density of young single-person households experiencing housing poverty. The study sample comprises young single-person households aged 19-39 years who are experiencing housing poverty in the study area, with an expected saturation point of approximately 55 participants. We employ online and offline recruitment strategies to ensure the inclusion of diverse perspectives and a multimethod approach that combines descriptive and spatiotemporal data collection techniques (eg, individual in-depth interviews, field observations and mobile global positioning system tracking). The data analysis encompasses thematic and content analyses to understand the neighbourhood environment's perceived attributes and the spatiotemporal characteristics of healthy lifestyles. In the integrated analysis, we plan to combine the qualitative findings with living space and daily-life patterns using qualitative software and a hybrid relational database.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The Institutional Review Board of Seoul National University approved the research protocol on 18 May 2021. The findings will be shared at international conferences and published in academic journals. Additionally, an online seminar will be conducted to share the results with policy-makers, researchers, community organisations and health workers working with young single-person households experiencing housing poverty.

Empowering health geography research with location-based social media data: innovative food word expansion and energy density prediction via word embedding and machine learning

BACKGROUND

The exponential growth of location-based social media (LBSM) data has ushered in novel prospects for investigating the urban food environment in health geography research. However, previous studies have primarily relied on word dictionaries with a limited number of food words and employed common-sense categorizations to determine the healthiness of those words. To enhance the analysis of the urban food environment using LBSM data, it is crucial to develop a more comprehensive list of food-related words. Within the context, this study delves into the exploration of expanding food-related words along with their associated energy densities.

METHODS

This study addresses the aforementioned research gap by introducing a novel methodology for expanding the food-related word dictionary and predicting energy densities. Seed words are generated from official and crowdsourced food composition databases, and new food words are discovered by clustering food words within the word embedding space using the Gaussian mixture model. Machine learning models are employed to predict the energy density classifications of these food words based on their feature vectors. To ensure a thorough exploration of the prediction problem, ten widely used machine learning models are evaluated.

RESULTS

The approach successfully expands the food-related word dictionary and accurately predicts food energy density (reaching 91.62%.). Through a comparison of the newly expanded dictionary with the initial seed words and an analysis of Yelp reviews in the city of Toronto, we observe significant improvements in identifying food words and gaining a deeper understanding of the food environment.

CONCLUSIONS

This study proposes a novel method to expand food-related vocabulary and predict the food energy density based on machine learning and word embedding. This method makes a valuable contribution to building a more comprehensive list of food words that can be used in geography and public health studies by mining geotagged social media data.

GIScience and Historical Visual Sources: A Promising Look at Past Scenarios and Sceneries

The discipline of historical geography evolved rapidly in the 20th century [...]

Using Ecological Momentary Assessments to Understand Black Youths' Experiences of Racism, Stress, and Safety

Anti-Black racism, both interpersonal and systemic, is pervasive. Individual- and neighborhood-level expressions of anti-Black racism have been explored in many studies; however, Black youths' experiences of racism across routine activity locations have not been examined as extensively. To address this gap, a Youth Research Advisory Board (YRAB) recruited 75 Black youths (M (SD) = 15.53 (1.77)), living in a segregated neighborhood (93% African American) with 42% of residents living below the poverty line, to participate in research on this topic. Participants in the study completed surveys three times a day for a month (ecological momentary assessment) about their positive and negative emotions and perceptions of racism and social support in routine activity locations (n = 2041). Youths reported more racism when attending school and walking on the street. A relationship between perceptions of racism and social support in routine activity locations and positive and negative momentary emotions was found. This paper will present implications for supporting adolescent development and interrupting anti-Black racism at the level of routine activity locations, along with opportunities for engaging youth-led community-based solutions.

A Community-Integrated Geographic Information System Study of Air Pollution Exposure Impacts in Colfax, LA

A community-integrated geographic information systems (CIGIS) study assimilating qualitative and quantitative information about human exposures and health was conducted in Colfax, Louisiana, which hosts a commercial open burn/open detonation thermal treatment (TT) facility that destroys waste from Superfund sites, explosives, military ordnances, and propellants. Fifty-eight percent of residents identified as Black, and median annual income was $16,318, with 90% of the population living below the poverty line. We conducted oral history interviews of twenty-nine residents and mined public records to document the community's experiences. Interviews focused on themes of Colfax's history, changing community fabric, resident health, and air pollution. The oral histories and public comments by community members provided information about lived experiences, including several health conditions, toleration of noise and vibration, property damage, and resulting changes to activity levels. These statements provided insight into the extent of suffering experienced by the local community. We also ran dispersion models for dates in 2020 when the waste stream composition, mass, and burn/smoldering times were provided in the facility's public records. The dispersion models placed the air pollution at the homes of residents during some of the time, and waste stream records from the TT facility agree with community testimony about health effects based on the known health effects of those compounds. CIGIS integration of our community-based qualitative data and maps with quantitative air pollution dispersion model output illustrated alignment between community complaints of impacts to health and property, known toxicological information about waste stream compounds, and dispersion model output.

Exploring multiple drug use by integrating mobile health and qualitative mapping methods - An individual case study

BACKGROUND

Multiple drug use involves particular pleasures and risks, and is disproportionately practiced by some minority and socially marginalized groups. The unique patterns, intentions, and social contexts of multiple drug use for these groups are poorly understood.

METHODS

Our mixed method integrates geo-enabled smartphone survey data collection with a qualitative mapping interview method. This brief report presents data from one study participant to demonstrate this method's potential contributions to multiple drug use research for priority groups in different settings.

RESULTS

'Jason's' data revealed the interrelated dynamics within his drug use repertoire and links between his substance use to rural life as a transgender person with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Cigarettes played a role in coping with acute stress from repeatedly being misgendered. Cannabis intoxication helped manage social interactions as a person with ASD, while 'chasing' with cigarettes calibrated cannabis intoxication. Methamphetamine use related to managing body dysmorphia in a rural context with poor access to transgender health services.

CONCLUSION

This mixed method can integrate reliable and ecologically valid assessments of multiple drug use repertoires and combination patterns with the place-embedded experiences, intersecting identities, structural barriers, and intentions related to multiple drug use for different priority groups.

Safe Spaces Embedded in Dangerous Contexts: How Chicago Youth Navigate Daily Life and Demonstrate Resilience in High-Crime Neighborhoods

Much is known about how experiences of community violence negatively affect youth, but far less research has explored how youth remain resilient while living in dangerous neighborhoods. This study addresses this need by analyzing in-depth, geo-narrative interviews conducted with 15 youth (60% Black, 27% Latinx, 53% female, 14 to 17 years old) residing in low-income, high-crime Chicago neighborhoods to explore youths' perceptions of safety and strategies for navigating neighborhood space. After carrying geographical positioning system (GPS) trackers for an eight-day period, youths' travel patterns were mapped, and these maps were used as part of an interview with youth that explored daily routines, with special consideration paid to where and when youth felt safe. Drawing on activity settings theory and exploring youth voice, we find that experiences of community violence are commonplace, but youth describe how they have safe spaces that are embedded within these dangerous contexts. Perceptions of safety and danger were related to environmental, social, and temporal cues. Youth reported four overarching safety strategies, including avoidance, hypervigilance, self-defense, and emotional management, but these strategies considerably varied by gender. We discuss implications for practice and future directions of research. HIGHLIGHTS: This study explored Chicago youths' safety strategies and resilience in high-crime neighborhoods. Safe and dangerous spaces are embedded or overlapping settings. All youth practiced safety strategies but they considerably varied by gender. Perceptions are intersubjectively created due to the codes, rules, and norms of community life. Violence is common and extreme in everyday life of this sample of Chicago adolescents.

Using the concept of activity space to understand the social health of older adults living with memory problems and dementia at home

Globally as the population ages, the prevalence of dementia will increase. Simultaneously, there is a trend toward people ageing at home. Therefore, more people will be ageing at home with dementia, as opposed to institutional environments. In this context, there has been a recent shift in research exploring ways that people can live well with the consequences of the disease. As a part of this emerging research, the social and spatial aspects of the lives of people living with memory problems are becoming increasingly of interest. The aim of this article is to use the concept of activity space to examine the social health of older adults with memory problems and dementia who live at home. Activity space data were collected from seven older adults experiencing memory problems and living at home in the Netherlands. Using a mixed-methods approach, insight into their activity spaces were gained through walking interviews, 14 days of global positioning system (GPS) movement data, travel diary entries and in-depth interviews. The GPS data, travel diary data and interview transcripts were analyzed using a grounded visualization approach. Our findings show that participants interact independently in routine activity spaces but depend on others to participate in occasional activity spaces. Interactions within both these spaces contribute to the social health of older adults with memory problems and dementia who live at home. Additionally, participants used coping strategies and decision-making to maintain autonomy in daily life. The findings can inform dementia-friendly initiatives and social health care planning.

Incorporating Geographic Information Science and Technology in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Incorporating geographic information science and technology (GIS&T) into COVID-19 pandemic surveillance, modeling, and response enhances understanding and control of the disease. Applications of GIS&T include 1) developing spatial data infrastructures for surveillance and data sharing, 2) incorporating mobility data in infectious disease forecasting, 3) using geospatial technologies for digital contact tracing, 4) integrating geographic data in COVID-19 modeling, 5) investigating geographic social vulnerabilities and health disparities, and 6) communicating the status of the disease or status of facilities for return-to-normal operations. Locations and availability of personal protective equipment, ventilators, hospital beds, and other items can be optimized with the use of GIS&T. Challenges include protection of individual privacy and civil liberties and closer collaboration among the fields of geography, medicine, public health, and public policy.

Understanding Social Network and Support for Older Immigrants in Ontario, Canada: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study

Background

Older adults are the fastest growing age group worldwide and in Canada. Immigrants represent a significant proportion of older Canadians. Social isolation is common among older adults and has many negative consequences, including limited community and civic participation, increased income insecurity, and increased risk of elder abuse. Additional factors such as the social, cultural, and economic changes that accompany migration, language differences, racism, and ageism heighten older immigrants’ vulnerability to social isolation.

Objective

This mixed-methods sequential (qualitative-quantitative) study seeks to clarify older immigrants’ social needs, networks, and support and how these shape their capacity, resilience, and independence in aging well in Ontario.

Methods

Theoretically, our research is informed by an intersectionality perspective and an ecological model, allowing us to critically examine the complexity surrounding multiple dimensions of social identity (eg, gender and immigration) and how these interrelate at the micro (individual and family), meso (community), and macro (societal) levels in diverse geographical settings. Methodologically, the project is guided by a collaborative, community-based, mixed-methods approach to engaging a range of stakeholders in Toronto, Ottawa, Waterloo, and London in generating knowledge. The 4 settings were strategically chosen for their diversity in the level of urbanization, size of community, and the number of immigrants and immigrant-serving organizations. Interviews will be conducted in Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish with older women, older men, family members, community leaders, and service providers. The study protocol has received ethics approval from the 4 participating universities.

Results

Quantitative and qualitative data collection is ongoing. The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

Conclusions

Comparative analyses of qualitative and quantitative data within and across sites will provide insights about common and unique factors that contribute to the well-being of older immigrants in different regions of Ontario. Given the comprehensive approach to incorporating local knowledge and expert contributions from multilevel stakeholders, the empirical and theoretical findings will be highly relevant to our community partners, help facilitate practice change, and improve the well-being of older men and women in immigrant communities.

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/12616

The Use of Geonarratives to Add Context to Fine Scale Geospatial Research

There has been a move towards using mixed method approaches in geospatial research to gain context in understanding health related social patterns and processes. The central premise is that official data is often too reductionist and misses’ nuances that can help explain causality. One example is the geonarrative, a spatially relevant commentary or interview that can be mapped by content and/or location. While there have been several examples of geonarratives being used by researchers, there is no commonly available software that can easily transfer the associated text into spatial data. Having a standardized software platform is vital if these methods are to be used across different disciplines. This paper presents an overview of a solution, Wordmapper (WM), which is a standalone software developed to process geonarratives from a transcription and associated global positioning system (GPS) path. Apart from querying textual narrative data, Wordmapper facilitates qualitative coding which could be used to extract latent contextual information from the narratives. In order to improve interoperability, Wordmapper provides spatialized narrative data in formats, such as ESRI shape files, Keyhole Markup Language (KML), and Comma Separated Values (CSV). A case study based on five different spatial video geonarratives (SVG) collected to assess the human impacts following the 2011 Joplin, Missouri are used for illustration.

More than Fast Food: Development of a Story Map to Compare Adolescent Perceptions and Observations of Their Food Environments and Related Food Behaviors

The purpose of this convergent, multiphase, mixed methods study was to better understand the perceptions of adolescents' food environments and related food behaviors using grounded visualization and story mapping. Adolescents from one high school (13⁻16 years) in the southeastern United States were evaluated via data from health behavior surveys (n = 75), school environment maps, focus groups (n = 5 groups), and Photovoice (n = 6) from October 2016 to April 2017. Data from each phase were integrated using grounded visualization and new themes were identified (n = 7). A story map using ArcGIS Online was developed from data integration, depicting the newly identified themes. Participants failed to meet national recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake (2.71 cups). Focus group and Photovoice findings indicated the need for convenience food items in all environments. The story map is an online, interactive dissemination of information, with five maps, embedded quotes from focus groups, narrative passages with data interpretation, pictures to highlight themes, and a comparison of the participants' food environments. Story mapping and qualitative geographic information systems (GIS) approaches may be useful when depicting adolescent food environments and related food behaviors. Further research is needed when evaluating story maps and how individuals can be trained to create their own maps.

Geographic Information Science and the Analysis of Place and Health

The representation of place is a key theoretical advancement that Geographic Information Science can offer to improve the understanding of environmental determinants of health, but developing robust computational representations of place requires a substantial departure from conventional notions of geographic representation in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Unlike conventional GIS representations based on either objects or locations, we suggest place representation should incorporate dynamic subjective, experiential, and relational aspects of place, as the influence of place on health behavior concerns not only the features that can be objectively observed at a particular location but also the environmental perceptions of the individual, as molded by biological, social, and experiential characteristics. In addition, assessments of environmental exposures on health outcomes should focus on individuals' time-activity patterns and microenvironment profiles, which form a potentially unique personalized exposure environment for each individual. Addressing these representational challenges via collaborative research has the potential to advance both Geographic Information Science and health research.

A geographically explicit ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) mixed method for understanding substance use

Tobacco use is increasingly concentrated within marginalized groups, including LGBTQ+ young adults. Developing tailored interventions to reduce tobacco-related health disparities requires understanding the mechanisms linking individual and contextual factors associated with tobacco use to behavior. This paper presents an in-depth exploration of three cases from a novel mixed method study designed to identify the situational factors and place-based practices of substance use among high-risk individuals. We combined geographically explicit ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) with an adapted travel diary-interview method. Participants (young adult bisexual smokers, ages 18-26) reported on non-smoking and smoking situations for 30 days with a smartphone app. GEMA surveys captured internal and external situational factors (e.g., craving intensity, location type, seeing others smoking). Continuous locational data was collected via smartphone GPS. Subsequently, participants completed in-depth interviews reviewing maps of their own GEMA data. GEMA data and transcripts were analyzed separately and integrated at the case level in a matrix. Using GEMA maps to guide the interview grounded discussion in participants' everyday smoking situations and routines. Interviews clarified participant interpretation of GEMA measures and revealed experiences and meanings of smoking locations and practices. The GEMA method identified the most frequent smoking locations/times for each participant (e.g., afternoons at university). Interviews provided description of associated situational factors and perceptions of smoking contexts (e.g., peer rejection of bisexual identity) and the roles of smoking therein (e.g., physically escape uncomfortable environments). In conclusion, this mixed method contributes to advancing qualitative GIS and other hypothesis-generating approaches working to reveal the richness of individuals' experiences of the everyday contexts of health behavior, while also providing reliable measures of situational predictors of behaviors of interest, such as substance use. Limitations of and future directions for the method are discussed.

The places parents go: understanding the breadth, scope, and experiences of activity spaces for parents

Neighborhood environments are related to parenting behaviors, which in turn have a life-long effect on children's health and well-being. Activity spaces, which measure individual routine patterns of movement, may be helpful in assessing how physical and social environments shape parenting. In this study we use qualitative data and GIS mapping from 4 California cities to examine parental activity spaces. Parents described a number of factors that shape their activity spaces including caregiving status, the age of their children, and income. Parental activity spaces also varied between times (weekends vs. weekdays) and places (adult-only vs. child-specific places). Knowing how to best capture and study parental activity spaces could identify mechanisms by which environmental factors influence parenting behaviors and child health.

Risky Substance Use Environments and Addiction: A New Frontier for Environmental Justice Research

Substance use disorders are widely recognized as one of the most pressing global public health problems, and recent research indicates that environmental factors, including access and exposure to substances of abuse, neighborhood disadvantage and disorder, and environmental barriers to treatment, influence substance use behaviors. Racial and socioeconomic inequities in the factors that create risky substance use environments may engender disparities in rates of substance use disorders and treatment outcomes. Environmental justice researchers, with substantial experience in addressing racial and ethnic inequities in environmental risk from technological and other hazards, should consider similar inequities in risky substance use environments as an environmental justice issue. Research should aim at illustrating where, why, and how such inequities in risky substance use environments occur, the implications of such inequities for disparities in substance use disorders and treatment outcomes, and the implications for tobacco, alcohol, and drug policies and prevention and treatment programs.

Parents, Peers, and Places: Young Urban Adolescents' Microsystems and Substance Use Involvement

Limited research is available that explains complex contextual and interactive effects of microsystems such as family relationships, peer networks, and place-based influences have on urban adolescent substance use. We contend that research into these complex processes is improved by integrating psychological, social, and geographic data to better understand urban adolescent substance use involvement. Accordingly, we tested a longitudinal, 3-way moderation model to determine if the direct effect of teen-parent relationships on substance use involvement is moderated by peer network characteristics, which in turn is moderated by the risk and protective attributes within urban adolescents' activity spaces, among a sample of 248 adolescents. Results revealed that peer networks moderate the effects of relations with parents on substance use involvement for those adolescents with higher levels of risk attributes within their activity space, but not for those who spend time in locations with less risk. Thus, the teen-parent relationship interacts with peer net-work characteristics, for those urban adolescents whose activity space is constituted within high-risk environments. We conclude that peer networks have important interactive effects with family relationships that influence substance use, and that this is particularly salient for young adolescents who are exposed to risky environments. This finding underscores the importance of continued study into the interrelations among microsystems of urban adolescents, and provides further support that substance use is a social practice that is constituted within the unique geography of young adolescents' lives.

Spatial video geonarratives and health: case studies in post-disaster recovery, crime, mosquito control and tuberculosis in the homeless

Background

A call has recently been made by the public health and medical communities to understand the neighborhood context of a patient’s life in order to improve education and treatment. To do this, methods are required that can collect “contextual” characteristics while complementing the spatial analysis of more traditional data. This also needs to happen within a standardized, transferable, easy-to-implement framework.

Methods

The Spatial Video Geonarrative (SVG) is an environmentally-cued narrative where place is used to stimulate discussion about fine-scale geographic characteristics of an area and the context of their occurrence. It is a simple yet powerful approach to enable collection and spatial analysis of expert and resident health-related perceptions and experiences of places. Participants comment about where they live or work while guiding a driver through the area. Four GPS-enabled cameras are attached to the vehicle to capture the places that are observed and discussed by the participant. Audio recording of this narrative is linked to the video via time stamp. A program (G-Code) is then used to geotag each word as a point in a geographic information system (GIS). Querying and density analysis can then be performed on the narrative text to identify spatial patterns within one narrative or across multiple narratives. This approach is illustrated using case studies on post-disaster psychopathology, crime, mosquito control, and TB in homeless populations.

Results

SVG can be used to map individual, group, or contested group context for an environment. The method can also gather data for cohorts where traditional spatial data are absent. In addition, SVG provides a means to spatially capture, map and archive institutional knowledge.

Conclusions

SVG GIS output can be used to advance theory by being used as input into qualitative and/or spatial analyses. SVG can also be used to gain near-real time insight therefore supporting applied interventions. Advances over existing geonarrative approaches include the simultaneous collection of video data to visually support any commentary, and the ease-of-application making it a transferable method across different environments and skillsets.

A novel assessment of adolescent mobility: a pilot study

Background

The accurate measurement of daily mobility and travel to destinations beyond the residential neighbourhood has been identified as an important but almost systematically overlooked factor when investigating the relationship between exposure to the built environment and physical activity. The recent development of VERITAS – a web-based application nested within a computer-assisted personal interview – allows researchers to assess daily mobility, travel to regular destinations, and perceived neighbourhood boundaries using interactive mapping technology. The aims of this pilot study were to (1) demonstrate the feasibility and functionality of using VERITAS in an adolescent sample, and (2) compare urban form characteristics and geometric features of the perceived neighbourhood with traditional neighbourhood delimitations.

Methods

Data were collected and analysed for twenty-eight participants (14 male, 15.9 ± 1.48 years) in 2013. Participants underwent anthropometric assessment before completing a custom-designed VERITAS protocol under the supervision of trained interview technicians. Regularly visited destinations, school travel routes, transportation modes, travel companions, and perceived neighbourhood boundaries were assessed. Data were imported into ArcGIS and street network distances between the home and each geolocated destination were generated. Convex hull activity spaces were derived from destinations. Urban form variables and geometric characteristics were compared between the perceived neighbourhood, existing meshblocks, 1 mile Euclidean buffers, and 1 km network buffers.

Results

In total, 529 destinations were geolocated, 58% of which were outside the perceived neighbourhood boundary. Active travel was inversely associated with distance to destinations (r = −.43, p < .05) and traveling with adults (r = −.68, p < .01). Urban form and geometric characteristics of the perceived neighbourhood were different from those in other neighbourhood delimitations.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the feasibility of using VERITAS to assess mobility within adolescent populations. Our results also illustrate the potential novelty and use of user-defined spaces, and highlight the limitations of relying on restricted definitions of place (i.e., administrative or residential-focused neighbourhoods) when assessing environmental exposure.