Doctoral Dissertation Research: Integrating Space and Place into Children's Perceptions of Environmental Health Hazards.

San Diego State University Foundation, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

The overall objective of this doctoral dissertation research project is to develop a geographical overview of how children perceive environmental health hazards, comparing beliefs and realities of environment-disease pathways with spatial and contextual methods. Spatial processes uncovered by health geography and environmental health recurrently corroborate the importance of geography for understanding disease transmission. Studies have examined how place is a driving force of disease with a focus on differing levels of exposure, from household to neighborhood to broader regional contexts. However, the literature has yet to sufficiently incorporate notions of space, such as topology and networks, into understanding how geography shapes health. In this project, qualitative methods will feature key informant interviews, focus groups, and interviews with children. Quantitative and spatial data will be collected in Accra, Ghana using surveys, hazard mapping, photographic exercises, and neighborhood walks with GPS tagging (locating specific objects in a neighborhood). Analysis will revolve around interview coding, data exploration, mapping, variance tests, and logistic regression. Overall, this analysis of health perceptions of children in a developing world city will fill a gap in the literature on children's health perception, and provide a novel research domain for spatial cognition. This research will advance the health geography and environmental health literature by developing and applying a spatial cognition framework of environmental health hazard knowledge that includes diverse spatial components. Perceptions of environmental health hazards will be used to explore both spatial and contextual aspects of infectious disease transmission among the growing population of children in Accra, Ghana. Within the broader framework of health geography and environmental health, the proposed spatial analytical and qualitative integration will develop a multi-pronged systems approach for studying environment and disease. The research has broad applications in public health interventions and education by narrowing the gap between children's spatial perceptions of health and health education methods, and therefore will be shared with the Health Ministry, NGOs with interest in children's health, and the Population Council in Accra. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.