Te Taiwhenua o te Hauora | GeoHealth Laboratory undertakes applied research in the areas of health geography, spatial epidemiology and Geographical Information Systems. In particular, work in the GeoHealth Laboratory focuses upon how the local and national contexts shape health outcomes and health inequalities.

Who we are

The Minister of Health, Hon Annette King, launched The GeoHealth Laboratory. This happened at a conference in Wellington in November 2004. The GeoHealth Laboratory is a joint venture between the University of Canterbury and the Ministry of Health. The aim of the collaboration is to build a strategic partnership between the parties around health geography, spatial epidemiology and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Further, we aim to increase research capacity and research outputs in the health and GIS academic sectors. The collaboration provides a resource that is unique in the Southern hemisphere.

What we do

Work in the GeoHealth Laboratory focuses upon how the local and national contexts shape health outcomes and health inequalities. Research has focused on how both micro and macro level process help to shape the health of New Zealanders. Our current work has considered how various characteristics of local neighbourhoods influence health outcomes and health-related behaviours. These projects include the effect of community resource access (such as access to parks, food stores and healthcare provision) on health inequalities; the role of deprivation and rurality in influencing suicide rates; environmental justice and air pollution; and the importance of income inequality and macro-level process on inequalities in life expectancy (visit our Publications page for more details). 

Watch the videos below for more information.