Health disparities have become common conversation amongst medical professionals, politicians, and communities at large. It’s a known fact that the poorer you are, the more affected you are by the worst health indicators. Understanding this fact makes the fix sound simple: perhaps move to a new neighborhood or increase your income — that should fix these issues. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
There are many reasons for the spread of disease or environmental pollution that continues to plague our planet. Those reasons are found in things like climate, genetics, weather conditions, pollution, and other environmental factors. While all of those factors play a huge part in health disparities, the most profound reasons why certain disparities persist have little to do with any of those known factors. So what could be more pressing than that list? Data.
Bridging the gap between health data and prevention
Think about it: When you visit the doctor’s office, the first thing most doctors do is run a myriad of tests to locate the source of your bodily issues. Tests usually reveal the issues that are present at that time, but it won’t tell them the environmental or genetic history that contributed to your conditions which could have prevented the illness or that prevent others from being exposed. The good news is technology is beginning to change that dynamic.
We now have gadgets that track our heart rate, blood pressure and other important vitals, which is great. That data is extremely important information, but still remains a small part of the data we need to ensure the overall health of the human race. That need for data and more education has sprung a new movement led by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and facilitated by Kurt Menke of Birds Eye View. Together they are helping communities collect critical health data and heal themselves from many health concerns that are common to their neighborhoods.
The rise of the Fuclruminators
Kurt, a GIS specialist, has shared his expertise in geography and technology across the globe. To date, he has instructed over 800 communities and organizations on how to take their health into their own hands. Kurt is one of many “Fulcruminators,” superheroes using the Fulcrum platform to save the world. These communities collect data in real time and report their findings to local authorities. This approach increases opportunities to resolve environmental challenges that lead to widespread disease and other health issues in the world’s most impoverished areas.
In North Miami, Community Health Maps partnered with Florida International University and local residents living in the Shorecrest community to collect King Tide data during one of many tidal flooding episodes that frequently occur in that area. Residents in that area used Fulcrum and water-testing kits to assess the safety of the floodwaters. The tests revealed high bacteria levels, prompting authorities to implement different safety measures to protect the residents. Shorecrest residents now have data tools and a process to help themselves and their neighbors during future King Tides.
Kurt recently convened 12 Pacific Island public health professionals in Honolulu, HI, for Community Health Maps training. The training focused on collecting and working with geographic data related to vector-borne diseases. Participants included representatives from American Samoa, Micronesia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.
The First vector-borne disease surveillance workshop
The two-day workshops were aimed specifically at tackling the spread of diseases like Dengue Fever and the West Nile and Zika viruses. The training was organized by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in collaboration with the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, and the U.S. National Library of Medicine and was taught in conjunction with ASTHO’s Insular Area Climate and Health Summit.
After an introduction to the Community Health Maps project – its origins, workflow and examples of past projects – participants learned to create a data collection form and use their smartphones to map features (trees, signs, benches etc.) around the conference site using Fulcrum. Yet another community equipped and empowered to make change through their own hands.
We can’t determine if the Community Health Mapping efforts will resolve every health disparity we face, but we can empower people to collect critical information quickly, which supports faster recoveries and results in more lives saved. That is what the Fulcrum data collection platform does for these communities.
Fulcrum Community is a no-cost, short-term crowdsourced data collection solution for qualified humanitarian or volunteer disaster preparedness and recovery efforts.