While we briefly describe our investigations and findings in this article, our primary goal is to demonstrate the capabilities of Google Earth as an inexpensive yet effective mapping technology that allows health professionals (and potentially community members) to better understand their social environment.ĬASE 1: MAPPING PLACES TO GET FOOD AND TO EXERCISE In the second case, medical students evaluated the availability of nutritious foods in the stores surrounding a student-run free clinic. In the first case, medical residents mapped sources of food and exercise around their outpatient clinical site. This article reports on two case studies of the use of Google Earth for community mapping in Bronx neighborhoods. People who are not familiar with mapping software can be easily trained to use Google Earth, and the resultant maps can be shared over the Internet. Google Earth allows sites to be identified in a variety of ways: by pointing to a location on a map, by inputting an individual address, or (in the Plus version) by importing addresses from a spreadsheet file or database. Map locations can be displayed with varied icons, allowing a visual ranking or classification system. Unlike commercial mapping software, they are available either for free (Google Earth) or for a modest price (Google Earth Plus). Google Earth and Google Earth Plus™ 17 mapping software have several advantageous features for such community mapping. Such an approach is congruent with the extensive literature examining neighborhoods and their effects on health. The community diagnosis informs not only individual clinical practice, but also community-wide efforts to promote health. 11 COPC was originally developed in the 1940s by the Karks in South Africa and was described by them as “a practice of social medicine.” 12 COPC begins with a community diagnosis, which is often based on detailed community maps. 8 Consistent with the principles of social medicine, 9, 10 we have adopted an approach incorporating elements of Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC). Diabetes and obesity are important problems in the predominantly working-class and immigrant communities served by the Department of Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center.
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