Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) is a great tool for health communication

practitioners to utilize in order to present data to the public. GIS has the ability to display data in

an interactive way that the general public can engage with. Its spatial element can be used by

professionals in many different academics to uncover information about populations. According

to an ESRI article “Mapping Epidemics: From SARS, Zika, and Ebola to the Pandemic of

COVID-19”, the use of GIS by NASA has allowed them to find environments where the Zika

virus may spread and thrive has allowed public health professionals the ability to focus their

prevention management in areas most vulnerable to infection. Another great use for GIS

described in the article was to help manage immunization campaigns. The maps created can

reveal vaccination rates in a given area and provide valuable information on the needs and

resources that public health professionals can hopefully address. The implementation of GIS can

expose crucial information that can be analyzed by public health professionals and also

communicate that knowledge effectively to the public.

Philip Elder is an expert in his field and he works regularly with GIS. A key

takeaway from his presentation was his explanation of the key elements that make a good map.

The six elements that make a good map are a title, legend, north arrow, scale bar, authorship, and

citation of sources. A map must have these elements or else it may affect the map's ability to be

succesfully interactive and also it can undermine its credibility. Another key takeaway was that

when you are trying to communicate data, you need to be cautious when deciding what

information to include and what to omit. It’s important for health communicators to display data

in a simplified way to provide ease of use to its audience, however, not in a way that

compromises the data. In order to present the data in an ethical manner, it should be as true to the

data as possible. Lastly, he suggested that you keep in mind the color scheme you are choosing
when creating your map display. People already have ideas about colors and you need to be

aware of that when picking what colors to use for each data point.

Although the use of maps can be very beneficial, they also can sometimes not be

effective at getting a message across. According to the article “MapLab: Maps May Not Be the

Best Covid Persuasion Tool”, it states that when people are making personal decisions they are

swayed by emotion rather than numbers and maps. The study discussed in the article showed that

the people who viewed maps on COVID-19 infection rates actually became more optimistic

about the Pandemic ending in the next two weeks than those who didn’t view any maps. It also

had zero effect on whether or not the respondents would follow public health guidelines. This

article highlights the importance for public health professionals to know how best to convey

health information in a way that the audience will best respond to. In this example, health

communicators wanting to help the public stay safe from COVID-19 infection may be better off

using emotionally driven messages than GIS maps and graphics. Nonetheless, GIS technology is

here to stay and will continue to provide collection, analyzation, and sharing of key data.
 References

Bliss, L. (2021, January 13). MapLab: Maps May Not Be the Best Covid Persuasion Tool.

Bloomberg.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-01-13/maplab-maps-don-t-persuade-people-

to-wear-a-mask

Geraghty, E. (2022, April 3). Mapping epidemics: From SARS, Zika, and Ebola to the pandemic

of COVID-19. Esri. https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/maps-that-mitigate-epidemics/