The HIS Geo-Enabling course is being developed by the Health GeoLab in collaboration with and with the support of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
The objectives of this course are to:
- Introduce the concept of HIS geo-enabling and support its implementation in countries
- Demonstrate and illustrate the potential of geospatial data and technologies applied to public health
- Build participants’ knowledge on the elements required for geo-enabling a Health information System (HIS)
- Strengthen the participants technical capacity when it comes to the management and use of geospatial data technologies in public health
This course is primarily developed to be integrated in the regular curriculum of Schools of Public Health across Asia and the Pacific or used by individuals interested in the topics it covers. It addresses staff from the health sector in countries (government and key partners), more specifically: (1) policymakers and managers; (2) HIS staff at national and sub national level; (3) data managers and GIS technicians; (4) students in health sciences and practice.
Each module of the course consists of PowerPoint slides accompanied by associated reference materials organized in such a way that anybody interested in the topic could learn about it and anybody having the knowledge on the topics being covered could give it to students.
The syllabus, facilitator’s guide, slides, and associated materials are freely available for download from here as they become available. (Please just make sure to acknowledge the source of this material in case you are using it. Thank you!):
| Syllabus: | |||||
| Download link | |||||
| Facilitator’s Guide: | |||||
| Download link | |||||
| Course: | |||||
| Module 1: Medical Geography – 2 hours | Slides | Exercises | Reference materials | ||
| Session 1.1 | Context and objective of the training, agenda and round of introduction of the participants | Download link | |||
| Session 1.2 | The geographic dimension of public health | Download link | Health service coverage and its evaluation | ||
| Session 1.3 | Examples from the Region | Download link | |||
| Module 2: Geo-enabling the Health Information System (HIS) | Slides | Exercises | Reference materials | ||
| Session 2.1 | Geography and time in the HIS | Download link | |||
| Session 2.2 | The HIS geo-enabling framework: Description | Download link | HIS Geo-enabling Toolkit | ||
| Session 2.3 | The HIS geo-enabling framework: Implementation | Download link | HIS Geo-enabling Toolkit | ||
| Exercise 2.A | Rapid assessment of the HIS geo-enabling level among the participants | Download link | Exercise 2.A data and guide | ||
| Session 2.4 | The Health GeoLab Collaborative: A regional resources to support HIS geo-enabling across Asia and Pacific |
Download link | Health GeoLab Collaborative website | ||
| Module 3: Geospatial Data Management | Slides | Exercises | Reference materials | ||
| Session 3.1 | Introduction to the geospatial data management cycle | Download link | Health GeoLab Collaborative Guidance Document Part 1: Introduction to the data-information-knowledge-decision continuum and the geospatial data management | ||
| Session 3.2 | Implementing the geospatial data management (Part 1): Documenting the process and defining the data needs | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.1 Documenting the process and defining the data need | ||
| Exercise 3.A | Identifying the data needs for a particular public health priority | Download link | Exercise 3.A guide | Section 4 and Annex 2 – HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.1 Documenting the process and defining the data need | |
| Session 3.3 | Implementing the geospatial data management cycle (Part 2): Defining the vocabulary, the data set specifications, standards, protocols, and ground reference | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.2 Defining the vocabulary, the data set specifications and the ground reference | ||
| Session 3.4 | Implementing the geospatial data management cycle (Part 3): Data compilation and gaps assessment | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.3 Compiling existing data and identifying gaps | ||
| Session 3.5 | Implementing the geospatial data management cycle (Part 4): Data collection and extraction | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.4.2 Collecting data in the field | ||
| Session 3.6 | Implementing the geospatial data management cycle (Part 5): Data cleaning, validation, and documentation | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.5.1 Documenting the data using a metadata profile | ||
| Session 3.7 | Implementing the geospatial data management cycle (Part 6): Data distribution, use, and update | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.6.1 Creating good thematic maps using desktop GIS software | ||
| Module 4: Hands-on Geospatial Technologies | Slides | Exercises | Reference materials | ||
| Session 4.1 | Introduction to geospatial technologies | Download link | |||
| Session 4.2 | Introduction to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) | Download link | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.4.2 Collecting data in the field | ||
| Exercise 4.A | Collecting data in the field using a GNSS-enabled device and GPS essentials | Download link | Exercise 4.A guide | HGLC Guidance Document Part 2.4.2 Collecting data in the field | |
| Session 4.3 | Introduction to Geographic Information System (GIS) | Download link | |||
| Exercise 4.B | Using the basic functionalities of a GIS software: | Exercise 4.B data | |||
| QGIS | Download link | QGIS guide | QGIS Documentation page | ||
| ArcMap | Download link | ArcMap Guide | Esri ArcMap page | ||
| Session 4.4 | Available resources to explore geospatial technologies further (GNSS, QGIS, and ArcMap) | Download link | |||