GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION-SYSTEMS AND HEALTH - AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

The use of geographic information systems to analyze spatial dimensions of health care and disease ecology is becoming a realistic prospect for investigators in the social sciences. This review of the literature, bringing together a diverse collection of professional and academic journals, can be grouped into four categories: potential, cautionary, preliminary, and application. Enough references have been collected and reviewed to provide instructors with material for a classroom unit about 1) using GIS in a medical geography class; 2) medical applications in a GIS class; or 3) using GIS in classes which have a health and disease component.