Targeted Prostate Cancer Outreach in Newark, NJ: A GIS Approach to Reduce Health Disparities

1. Targeted Prostate Cancer Outreach in Newark, NJ: A GIS Approach to Reduce Health Disparities William Montgomery, Ph.D. – Dept of Geoscience, New Jersey City University Satish Ramrup - Dept of Geoscience, New Jersey City University Joanne K. Fagan, Ph.D. - Institute for Elimination of Health Disparities, UMDNJ John Grew, Ph.D. – Dept of Biology, New Jersey City University Diane Brown, Ph.D., Institute for Elimination of Health Disparities, UMDNJ

2. Bio • Satish Ramrup – senior at NJCU, pursuing a B.S in Environmental Science. • Worked under the leadership of Dr. William Montgomery

3. The Problem • There is a significant disparity in prostate cancer incidence and mortality between African American males and white males in NJ : • Incidence* = 158.3 (white) vs 267.8 (Afr-American) • Mortality* = 24.9 (white) vs 62.0 (Afr-American) • Efforts to reduce this disparity have been relatively unsuccessful to date. * (per 10,000)

4. EXPORT Project Goals • Improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities by… • Improving participation in prostate cancer screening through… • Focused outreach efforts into those areas of greatest need (African American males 40 and older) guided by… • GIS-based mapping of demographics & community assets (barbershops, churches)

5. Methodology: • Use American FactFinder to download Census P12 B data (number of African-Americans by age group per Census Tract)

6. Methodology • Use MS Excel and P12B data to calculate number of African-American males 40 and older per census tract – Note “STFID”

7. Methodology • Create GIS Base Map with Census Tracts – Note STFID

8. Methodology • Use STFID as Primary Key to Join P12B data to Census Tracts • (Maryland example of the technique)

9. Methodology • Acquire community asset information (example from Maryland)

10. Map community assets via geocoding and Census 2000 TIGER street / road data • Street address listed in asset database • Street lines & endpoint addresses listed in TIGER street data • GIS creates point at estimated location of address 150 Main Street 100 200 Main Street

11. Initial Results • All assets in map area (Maryland example) • Possible “information overload” • Where does one start?

12. Focus our Efforts:Identify assets nearest those in greatest need • Create ¼-mile buffers around those census tracts with greatest nos. of African-American males 40 and older • Intersect those buffers with all mapped community assets • Result: Community assets within ¼ mile of those in greatest need

14. Results • Total of 117 barbershops in Essex County buffered 27 barbershops • Total of 253 churches in Essex County buffered 29 churches

15. The results & new outreach plan • Map shows spatial distribution of the assets of African American males 40 & older. • These assets will be used as the main inroads into the community for prostate cancer outreach & screening.

16. Acknowledgement • Dr. William Montgomery • Dr. Grew (Biology Chair) • Dr. Diane Brown • Rhonda McCathern

17. Overall Experience • Great Experience working with an experienced staff • Hope to be granted the opportunity to work with Project Export next summer

18. Questions ?Thank you for your time and interestThe UNDNJ-NJCU Project EXPORT team