Geospatial mapping is a useful tool in the mapping of public health problems which extend in space and time.
This project will focus on the social vulnerability of elderly with respect to health hazards. The aim of this study is to develop a geospatial map based on identified local risk factors to illustrate the areas where the elderly population in Mauritius is at risk to health and social threats including infectious diseases such as COVID19. The risk factors relevant to this study include age, health status, marital status, financial status, access to public transport, access to recreational facilities, housing conditions and factors related to the physical environment. Data on these risk factors will initially be collected by a door-to-door survey in selected localities and this will be supplemented by a geospatial online survey. The vulnerability risk assessment will be carried out using well proven risk assessment indexing methodologies.
The results will be displayed visually in map format. This vulnerability risk map will be used as a working tool by people in the field of elderly care. The initial map can be extended to a national level to provide concerned authorities with the spatial distribution of vulnerabilities of the elderly population in Mauritius.