Primary care investigators in health services and public health research are increasingly interested in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology and spatial analytic methods in their work. However, these researchers want assistance in mastering the challenges of using GIS and spatial analytic methods.
The Graham Center has now led or participated in pre-conferences at the 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2008 Annual Meetings of the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) focusing on GIS and spatial analytic methods in primary care research. These included hands-on workshops on spatial analysis and GIS, including suggested introductory readings on GIS and Primary Care. Look for similar workshops at future conferences. NAPCRG abstracts and a list of GIS resources are available on NAPCRG's website.
More information on GIS and health can be found on STFM's Family Medicine Digital Resources Library.
To begin to explore spatial relationships in population data, you can also visit and create a free login and password at the Robert Graham Center's GIS resource, HealthLandscape. (Learn more about HealthLandscape.)
