A Sociospatial Approach to Dust Transport : Engaging with Communities

Community members possess unique knowledge and insight about their social and physical environments and have an innate knowledge of their own health as experienced in these environments. Changing wind and weather patterns can impact the environmental conditions experienced by the public. This paper explores connections between changing environments and changing health of local populations using a sociospatial approach. Commonly, communities are subjected to health and/or environmental policy decisions without incorporating data drawing upon the knowledge and experience of community members. A sociospatial approach considers space, place and social indicators in a holistic fashion (Steinberg and Steinberg 2009). Furthermore, “it provides a live and systemic view of a locality, region or population” (Steinberg & Steinberg 2009:100). It utilizes a multiple methods approach that incorporates different types of data using an inductive orientation, beginning first with data and working towards developing an explanatory theory (Babbie 2012). A key component of this approach involves engaging the community through using public participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) and integrating this with other forms of environmental and social data. The paper provides an explanation of the sociospatial approach, and value it can bring to the study of healthy communities, environments and populations, often in the face of rapidly changing physical environmental and weather conditions. The development of effective health and environmental policies requires first gaining a solid view of the intricate connections between environmental, health and social conditions. The paper investigates how a sociospatial approach can be applied to regional outbreaks of Valley Fever in Phoenix, Arizona to better understand the patterns of occurrance, gathering community health experiences related to this increasingly prevalent disease. This is a particularly effective approach for working with underserved populations who are not always present at the decision-making table. Such knowledge can be documented, analyzed and integrated with other sources of data to share back with the community as a means of local empowerment and as a definitive guide to develop useful health policies and action.