William F. Wieczorek, Ph.D.: Future Uses of GIS for Examining Alcohol-Related Problems

Using TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system), alcohol data can be linked to information from the U.S. Census Bureau to produce maps overlaying various demographic characteristics, such as income, with alcohol-use data (Center for CMEA 1995).

Wieczorek will create GIS maps linking alcohol-related causes of death from the NIAAA's Alcohol Epidemiology Data System and census information to TIGER maps (Center for CMEA 1995). GIS will be used to look at differences in alcohol use patterns between cultural regions such as Appalachia (Center for CMEA 1995).

GIS will also be used to study alcoholics by using the calculate distance function of GIS to determine whether distance from the alcoholic to a treatment center is related to help-seeking behavior (Center for CMEA 1995). A GIS distance measuring tool will be used to determine the distance from the alcoholics current address to a treatment center, the distance during the heaviest drinking episode (Center for CMEA 1995). Queries can be performed to determine the number of facilities within a specified distance from the alcoholic (Center for CMEA 1995).

Mapping existing treatment facilities with GIS may clarify which areas are underserved (Center for CMEA 1995).