Health geography has a long history in public health – dating back to the 1850s when English doctor John Snow mapped cholera deaths in a London neighborhood, pinpointing a contaminated water pump as the source of the outbreak.
There is a lot of richness that health geography can uncover that health records alone cannot, explains GRC project manager Emelie Bailey.
“I think that’s something very special about health geography. We know that when it comes to public health, place matters. Whether it’s the neighborhoods we live in, the laws we are governed by, or the water we drink. Health geography helps to uncover and examine the relationships between health and place.”
Fascinated by a course on the geography of Africa as an undergrad, Bailey was compelled to see how political and economic forces influenced the geography of Africa firsthand. She studied abroad in a program focused on HIV/AIDS and health care access in Uganda. She landed a position with the Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Washington, D.C. after graduating.
“I am motivated by public service and always have been. Public health felt like a natural fit for me, especially the health of underserved communities” said Bailey.
She later pursued her graduate degree in geography at The Ohio State University, earning her Master of Arts in Geography in 2016. She joined GRC as a graduate research associate, examining spatial patterns of risk factors associated with infant mortality and preterm birth in Ohio as part of GRC’s Infant Mortality Research Partnership.
While the 1850s cholera outbreak illustrates health geography’s value in public health, Bailey says health geographers are far and few, often having to carve their own space into the public health field. Now as a project manager at GRC, Bailey claims her space through her work surrounding Ohio’s opioid epidemic.
She is currently working on the Statewide System Improvement Project, an evaluation of a pilot project using the family drug court model to support families affected by substance use and involved in child welfare by strengthening partnerships at the county level.
“GRC has a really unique position at the nexus of research and policy. Our work is used to inform research-driven policy through collaboration with researchers and state agency partners across the state,” said Bailey. “I am grateful to be a part of the state’s efforts to use data and science to inform policy and improve access to quality health care for all Ohioans.”
As a health geographer, Bailey is not only interested in observing population health from a statewide perspective, but on the local level as well. She does so by volunteering at Safe Point, a hybrid syringe exchange program administered by Equitas Health.
“My volunteer work at Safe Point humanizes a disease that carries a lot of stigma. It is really important to me to have a face to face connection with people struggling with addiction so that I have a grounded understanding of the people behind the data I’m looking at.”
Bailey interviews first time visitors and takes an assessment of their current needs so that she can navigate them to any necessary resources.
“I talk to participants about the Safe Point program and ask them what their health is like and what their social support network looks like. I make sure they have Naloxone (Narcan), sterile supplies, and understand harm reduction techniques. At Safe Point we can also link folks to treatment, and there are clinicians available if a participant is interested in discussing treatment options,” said Bailey.
While she does provide every new participant a list of treatment providers, Bailey explains that the goal of the syringe exchange program is not to get every person into treatment, but rather to provide an confidential, non-judgmental space for participants to learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy, while also reducing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.
Q&A with Emelie Bailey
What are you currently reading and/or listening to?
I’m almost done with a book called The Collected Schizophrenias.
Over the summer we saw Yo-Yo Ma perform in Massachusetts. He was playing Bach’s Cello Suites so I’ve been listening to that a lot at home.
If you could work somewhere else for one day, what would you do?
Graphic Designer/Illustrator. Part of my love for maps comes from a love for good design!
What is something on your bucket list?
Hike the Long Trail which spans the length of Vermont.
What is something people at GRC would be surprised to know about you?
I hiked Kilimanjaro with my mom in 2011. It was an amazing trip!