Health Geography

Geography and health are linked. The place where people are born, live, study, or work directly influences their health outcomes. Spatial location plays an important role in shaping population health through environmental and socioeconomic risks. Health geography can be divided in two research areas. First, research focusing on the geography of disease and ill health, including descriptive analyses (disease frequencies and distribution), and on characteristics which make individuals susceptible to disease. This research area requires a basic understanding of epidemiology. The second research area pays special attention to the geography of healthcare, particularly facility location, accessibility, and utilisation. This research area requires a good knowledge of GIS techniques. Some examples of broader themes are as follows:

  • Health services, infrastructures and land-use planning
  • Disease surveillance, modelling and mapping
  • Health determinants
  • Assessment of risk factors
  • Health care utilization
  • Geographical variations in health outcomes

Supervisors: Dagmar Dzúrová, Michala Lustigová, Ivana Kulhánová, Pavlína Netrdová

Research team: GeoQol – Research Centre on Health, Quality of Life and Lifestyle in a Geodemographic and Socioeconomic Context