The paper explores the application of asset mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to enhance health outcomes for older adults by optimising community resources. The study aims to assess the generalisability, scalability, and sustainability of a new model of care across diverse socio-economic and geographic contexts. Using GIS and asset mapping, the research visually represents resources in a rural market town and an urban suburb, involving approximately 2,000 assets.

 

The methodology follows a staged approach: data acquisition and preparation, uploading data to GIS, data integration and mapping, analysis and interpretation, validation and reporting, and dissemination. The study identifies community resources and reveals demographic strengths and barriers affecting older adults’ access, impacting their health outcomes. The rural market town has a higher concentration of accessible community assets compared to the urban suburb, which faces significant barriers due to limited resources and infrastructure challenges.

 

GIS and asset mapping provide a more visual and intuitive representation compared to traditional methods. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of these tools in identifying and visualising community resources, offering significant insights into the strengths and challenges older adults face, thereby enhancing the understanding of community dynamics. These findings suggest that targeted interventions can be developed to address specific barriers in different neighbourhoods, potentially improving health outcomes and promoting ageing in place. The approach can be scaled and adapted to other regions, contributing to the development of sustainable community support networks.

 

The research is part of the EPIC Networks project, funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust, focusing on healthy ageing and community connections. This multi-disciplinary project integrates medical statistics, health economics, sociology, anthropology, and design. It is a proof-of-concept and feasibility study, exploring whether a new model can be generalised, scaled, and sustained across diverse socio-economic and geographic settings in Oxfordshire. The study’s significance lies in its potential to prevent transitions to intensive care and extend healthy life expectancy by increasing the use of local support and social prescribing. This approach addresses the social determinants of health, which play a crucial role in overall well-being.

 

The primary research problem is to identify existing community resources that support older adults’ health and well-being and present this information in a usable way within their living environment. The study focuses on how asset maps and GIS models were used to explore resources in two diverse socio-economic and geographic settings within Oxfordshire. This research is crucial for understanding and enhancing the role of community assets in improving health outcomes for older adults.

 

The paper concludes that asset mapping and GIS are effective tools for identifying and visualising community resources, offering significant insights into the strengths and challenges older adults face. These findings suggest that targeted interventions can be developed to address specific barriers in different neighbourhoods, potentially improving health outcomes and promoting ageing in place. The approach can be scaled and adapted to other regions, contributing to the development of sustainable community support networks.

Hannah Grove

 

Hannah is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Global Centre on Healthcare & Urbanisation at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and a Research Associate at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing.

 

Hannah is an urban health geographer and planner, with an interest in how social and physical environments influence health and wellbeing throughout the lifecourse. With experience that bridges academia, policy, and practice, she is interested in how we can co-design environments and communities that promote a good quality of life, whilst recognising and addressing existing socio-spatial injustices and health inequities. Hannah’s research interests span urban health and social geography, healthy urban planning, and geographies of ageing. She is passionate about innovative methods and methodologies including the use of qualitative, geo-spatial and community-based participatory approaches to understand lived experiences of place.

 

Hannah has previously worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Dublin City University, a Research Assistant at Queens University Belfast, and as a Planning Policy Officer. She completed her PhD in the Department of Geography at Maynooth University, which explored how older people in the Greater Dublin Area define and enact ageing well in place.

 

Kate Bancroft

 

Kate joined the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing in 2024 as a Research Fellow. Prior to her appointment at Oxford, she served as a researcher within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Public Policy at King’s College London, where she held the position of Deputy Director of the PhD Applied Public Policy programme. In this role, she significantly contributed to the academic and research direction of the programme.

 

Kate’s research interests have consistently centred on asset mapping, with a particular emphasis on identifying and leveraging community resources to support healthy ageing. Her work involves mapping assets within communities to enhance the understanding of how local resources can be utilised to improve health outcomes for older adults.

 

Currently, at the University of Oxford, Kate is engaged in the EPIC Networks project, funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust. This project is dedicated to promoting healthy ageing and developing community connections through asset mapping. It is a multi-disciplinary, cross-sector initiative that integrates contributions from medical statistics, health economics, sociology, anthropology, and design. The project serves as a proof-of-concept and feasibility study, assessing whether this new model of asset mapping can be generalised, scaled, and sustained across diverse socio-economic and geographic settings in Oxfordshire through pilot testing.