The Washington State Environmental Health Disparities Map

Development of a Community-Responsive Cumulative Impacts Assessment Tool

Bibliographic Data

ID15474331
AuthorsEsther Min (0000-0002-8258-2723, University of Washington, corresponding author), Deric Gruen (Front and Centered, Seattle, WA 98122, USA), Debolina Banerjee (0000-0002-7938-7521, University of Puget Sound), Tina Echeverria (Washington State Department of Health), Lauren Freelander (Washington State Department of Health), Michael T Schmeltz (0000-0003-4764-9723, California State University, East Bay), Michael Schmeltz (Department of Health Sciences, California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA 94542, USA), Erik Saganić (University of Puget Sound), Millie Piazza (Washington State Department of Ecology), Vanessa E Galaviz (California Environmental Protection Agency), Michael G Yost (0000-0002-6514-0106, University of Washington), Michael Yost (University of Washington), Edmund Seto (0000-0003-4058-0313, University of Washington)
Year2019
Volume16
Issue22
Pages4470-4470
Publication date2019-11-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph16224470
PMID31766307
OpenAlexW2983495061
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited23

Communities across Washington State have expressed the need for neighborhood-level information on the cumulative impact of environmental hazards and social conditions to illuminate disparities and address environmental justice issues. Many existing mapping tools have not explicitly integrated community voice and lived experience as an integral part of their development. The goals of this project were to create a new community-academic-government partnership to collect and summarize community concerns and to develop a publicly available mapping tool that ranks relative environmental health disparities for populations across Washington State. Using a community-driven framework, we developed the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map, a cumulative environmental health impacts assessment tool. Nineteen regularly updated environmental and population indicators were integrated into the geospatial tool that allows for comparisons of the cumulative impacts between census tracts. This interactive map provides critical information for the public, agencies, policymakers, and community-based organizations to make informed decisions. The unique community-academic-government partnership and the community-driven framework can be used as a template for other environmental and social justice mapping endeavors

Cartography · Census · Environmental health · Environmental justice · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · General partnership · Geography · Geospatial analysis · Government (linguistics · Political science · Population · Public health · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Environmental and Social Impact Assessments · Environmental Justice and Health Disparities · Medicine