Making Space in Geographical Analysis.

In this commentary we reflect on the potential and power of geographical analysis, as a set of methods, theoretical approaches, and perspectives, to increase our understanding of how space and place matter for . We emphasize key aspects of the field, including accessibility, urban change, and spatial interaction and behavior, providing a high-level research agenda that indicates a variety of gaps and routes for future research that will not only lead to more equitable and aware solutions to local and global challenges, but also innovative and novel research methods, concepts, and data. We close with a set of representation and inclusion challenges to our discipline, researchers, and publication outlets.

Structural Factors and Racial/Ethnic Inequities in Travel Times to Acute Care Hospitals in the Rural US South, 2007-2018.

Unlabelled: Policy Points Policymakers should invest in programs to support rural health systems, with a more targeted focus on spatial accessibility and racial and ethnic equity, not only total supply or nearest facility measures. Health plan network adequacy standards should address spatial access to nearest and second nearest hospital care and incorporate equity standards for Black and Latinx rural communities. Black and Latinx rural residents contend with inequities in spatial access to hospital care, which arise from fundamental structural inequities in spatial allocation of economic opportunity in rural communities of color.

Therapeutic landscapes, networks, and health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study among female domestic workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on access to and use of therapeutic landscapes and networks, especially for people who are vulnerable due to economic, social, and work-related disadvantage. For one such vulnerable population, Indonesian female domestic workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong, this study employed a mixed methods approach to examine the associations between perceptions of therapeutic landscapes (TLs), therapeutic networks (TNs), subjective wellbeing, and self-rated health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from an online survey were analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to investigate the direct and indirect associations between TLs, TNs, and health and wellbeing.

National Institutes of Health pathways to prevention workshop: Improving rural health through telehealth-guided provider-to-provider communication.

Introduction: Rural communities often face chronic challenges of high rates of serious health conditions coupled with inadequate access to health care services-challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. One strategy with the potential to mitigate these problems is the increased use of telehealth technology. A feature of telehealth applications-collaboration between health care providers for consultation and other purposes-referred to herein as Rural Provider-to-Provider Telehealth (RPPT), introduces important expertise that may not exist locally in rural communities.

County-level associations between food retailer availability and violent crime rate.

Background: Violent crime (i.e., homicide, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and rape) continues to be a major public health concern in America.

Conceptualizing the Socio-Built Environment: An Expanded Theoretical Framework to Promote a Better Understanding of Risk for Nonmedical Opioid Overdose Outcomes in Urban and Non-Urban Settings.

Nonmedical opioid (NMO) use has been linked to significant increases in rates of NMO morbidity and mortality in non-urban areas. While there has been a great deal of empirical evidence suggesting that physical features of built environments represent strong predictors of drug use and mental health outcomes in urban settings, there is a dearth of research assessing the physical, built environment features of non-urban settings in order to predict risk for NMO overdose outcomes. Likewise, there is strong extant literature suggesting that social characteristics of environments also predict NMO overdoses and other NMO use outcomes, but limited research that considers the combined effects of both physical and social characteristics of environments on NMO outcomes.

Spaces of Segregation and Health: Complex Associations for Black Immigrant and US-Born Mothers in New York City.

Black immigrants are a growing proportion of the Black population in the USA, and despite the fact that they now comprise nearly a quarter of Black urban residents, few studies address the relationships between racial segregation and maternal and birth outcomes among Black immigrants. In this study of birth outcomes among US-born and immigrant Black mothers in New York City between 2010 and 2014, we applied multilevel models, assessing the association between segregation (measured through a novel kernel-based measure of local segregation) and adverse birth outcomes (preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW; < 2500 g)) among African-born, Caribbean-born, and US-born Black mothers. We found that African-born and Caribbean/Latin American-born Black mothers had a significantly lower incidence of PTB compared with US-born Black mothers (7.

Hospitalizations of Children and Adolescents with Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 - COVID-NET, 14 States, July 2021-January 2022.

The first U.S. case of COVID-19 attributed to the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) was reported on December 1, 2021 (1), and by the week ending December 25, 2021, Omicron was the predominant circulating variant in the United States.

Spatial and socioeconomic inequalities in the availability of community health centres in the Jakarta region, Indonesia.

In the late 1960s, Indonesia established community health centres (CHCs) throughout the country to provide basic healthcare services for the poor. However, CHC expenditures and investments vary widely at the sub-provincial level, among administrative areas known as cities and regencies, raising concern that facilities and services do not correspond to population needs. This study aimed to examine spatial and socioeconomic inequalities in the availability of CHCs in the Jakarta region.

Disability, wages, and commuting in New York.

In the U.S., substantial employment and wage gaps persist between workers with and without disabilities.

Characteristics of Persons Who Died with COVID-19 - United States, February 12-May 18, 2020.

During January 1, 2020-May 18, 2020, approximately 1.3 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 83,000 COVID-19-associated deaths were reported in the United States (1). Understanding the demographic and clinical characteristics of decedents could inform medical and public health interventions focused on preventing COVID-19-associated mortality.

Placing volunteered geographic health information: Socio-spatial bias in 311 bed bug report data for New York City.

Health researchers and policy-makers increasingly use volunteered geographic information (VGI) to analyze spatial variation in health and wellbeing and to develop interventions. As socially constructed data, health VGI reflect the people who perceive issues and choose to report them, and the digital systems that structure the reporting process. We propose a conceptual framework that describes the interlocking effects of socioeconomic, behavioral, geographic, and technological processes on VGI accuracy and credibility.

Spatial access to primary care providers and colorectal cancer-specific survival in Cook County, Illinois.

Background: Spatial access to primary care has been associated with late-stage and fatal breast cancer, but less is known about its relation to outcomes of other screening-preventable cancers such as colorectal cancer. This population-based retrospective cohort study examined whether spatial access to primary care providers associates with colorectal cancer-specific survival.

Methods: Approximately 26 600 incident colorectal cancers diagnosed between 2000 and 2008 in adults residing in Cook County, Illinois were identified through the state cancer registry and georeferenced to the census tract of residence at diagnosis.

Breast cancer staging by subtype in the Lower Mississippi Delta region States.

Introduction: To evaluate disparities in breast cancer stage by subtype (categorizations of breast cancer based upon molecular characteristics) in the Delta Regional Authority (Delta), an impoverished region across eight Lower Mississippi Delta Region (LMDR) states with a high proportion of Black residents and high breast cancer mortality rates.

Methods: We used population-based cancer registry data from seven of the eight LMDR states to explore breast cancer staging (early and late) differences by subtype between the Delta and non-Delta in the LMDR and between White and Black women within the Delta. Age-adjusted incidence rates and rate ratios were calculated to examine regional and racial differences.

Multilevel analysis in rural cancer control: A conceptual framework and methodological implications.

Rural populations experience a myriad of cancer disparities ranging from lower screening rates to higher cancer mortality rates. These disparities are due in part to individual-level characteristics like age and insurance status, but the physical and social context of rural residence also plays a role. Our objective was two-fold: 1) to develop a multilevel conceptual framework describing how rural residence and relevant micro, macro, and supra-macro factors can be considered in evaluating disparities across the cancer control continuum and 2) to outline the unique considerations of multilevel statistical modeling in rural cancer research.

Targeted exon skipping rescues ciliary protein composition defects in Joubert syndrome patient fibroblasts.

Joubert syndrome (JBTS) is an incurable multisystem ciliopathy syndrome. The most commonly mutated gene in JBTS patients with a cerebello-retinal-renal phenotype is CEP290 (alias JBTS5). The encoded CEP290 protein localises to the proximal end of the primary cilium, in the transition zone, where it controls ciliary protein composition and signalling.

Disparities in breast cancer subtypes among women in the lower Mississippi Delta Region states.

Purpose: To describe and elucidate rates in breast cancer incidence by subtype in the federally designated Mississippi Delta Region, an impoverished region across eight Southern/Midwest states with a high proportion of Black residents and notable breast cancer mortality disparities.

Methods: Cancer registry data from seven LMDR states (Missouri was not included because of permission issues) were used to explore breast cancer incidence differences by subtype between the LMDR's Delta and non-Delta Regions and between White and Black women within the Delta Region (2012-2014). Overall and subtype-specific age-adjusted incidence rates and rate ratios were calculated.

Spatial Accessibility to Mammography Services in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region States.

Purpose: To characterize spatial access to mammography services across 8 Lower Mississippi Delta Region (LMDR) states. These states include the Delta Region, a federally designated, largely rural, and impoverished region with a high proportion of black residents and low mammography utilization rates.

Methods: Using the enhanced 2-step floating catchment area method, we calculated spatial accessibility scores for mammography services across LMDR census tracts.

Contextual effects and cancer outcomes in the United States: a systematic review of characteristics in multilevel analyses.

Purpose: There is increasing call for the utilization of multilevel modeling to explore the relationship between place-based contextual effects and cancer outcomes in the United States. To gain a better understanding of how contextual factors are being considered, we performed a systematic review.

Methods: We reviewed studies published between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2016 and assessed the following attributes: (1) contextual considerations such as geographic scale and contextual factors used; (2) methods used to quantify contextual factors; and (3) cancer type and outcomes.

A geographic information system-based method for estimating cancer rates in non-census defined geographical areas.

Purpose: To address locally relevant cancer-related health issues, health departments frequently need data beyond that contained in standard census area-based statistics. We describe a geographic information system-based method for calculating age-standardized cancer incidence rates in non-census defined geographical areas using publically available data.

Methods: Aggregated records of cancer cases diagnosed from 2009 through 2013 in each of Chicago's 77 census-defined community areas were obtained from the Illinois State Cancer Registry.

Green Streets: Urban Green and Birth Outcomes.

Recent scholarship points to a protective association between green space and birth outcomes as well a positive relationship between blue space and wellbeing. We add to this body of literature by exploring the relationship between expectant mothers' exposure to green and blue spaces and adverse birth outcomes in New York City. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the NYC Street Tree Census, and access to major green spaces served as measures of greenness, while proximity to waterfront areas represented access to blue space.

Does Spatial Access to Primary Care Affect Emergency Department Utilization for Nonemergent Conditions?

Objective: To examine the contributions of individual- and neighborhood-level spatial access to care to the utilization of emergency departments (EDs) for preventable conditions through implementation of novel local spatial access measures.

Data Sources/study Setting: Emergency department admissions data are from four HealthLNK member hospitals in Chicago from 2007 to 2011. Primary care physician office and clinic locations were obtained from the American Medical Association and the City of Chicago.