Geographic Information System (GIS) technology provides visual tools, through the creation of computerized maps, graphs, and tables of geographic data, which can assist with problem solving and inform decision-making. One of the GIS tools being developed by KFL&A Public Health is the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Mapper. The SDOH Mapper consists of layers of information related to deprivation and marginalization indices across Ontario. The SDOH Mapper facilitates the inclusion of information related to vulnerable populations with the use of both age and social determinants of health data into the GIS portal. This is useful for observing trends in marginalization and deprivation across dissemination areas in Ontario, and for examining health inequities in an area over time. The SDOH mapper will, in this way, improve knowledge transmission on the effects of poverty and marginalization on outcomes.
Objective
To describe how the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Mapper is used by KFL&A Public Health to enhance real-time situational awareness of vulnerable populations across Ontario by facilitating the inclusion of information relating to marginalization and deprivation indices.