App: NOOJIMO - The Indigenous Health Amenities Locator App

Hosted on GitHub:

• Main webpage: https://esricanada-ce.github.io/ecce-app-challenge-2021/Waterloo_Health_Organization/webpage/

• Main app: https://esricanada-ce.github.io/ecce-app-challenge-2021/Waterloo_Health_Organization/app/

Hosted in ArcGIS Online:

• Main app: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=f747720641f2461d98910b046523ab22

Mission Statement

Canada is considered one of the healthiest nations in the world, but this good health is not shared by all who reside within it. Despite being one of the youngest and fastest-growing groups¹, our Indigenous population faces grave health inequalities. This includes a lower life expectancy by as much as 15 years, as well as higher rates of infant mortality, suicide, hospitalizations due to mental illness, chronic illnesses, and infectious diseases². The health inequalities experienced have primarily been a result of settler colonialism which displaced First Nations to remote communities that lack resources, amongst other detriments³.

The Waterloo Health Organization aims to respond to this inequality through our application NOOJIMO. Derived from the Objibwen word for healing⁴, our application takes a holistic approach that incorporates both indigenous and western perspectives on health. With NOOJIMO residents within indigenous communities can more easily access health services and other associated facilities. Nearby health amenities - including hospitals, mental health clinics, healing lodges, and community centres - can be identified based on a user’s location. Once the desired amenity has been identified, directions and estimated travel times are provided. Beyond its benefits to individuals, NOOJIMO can also be used by planners or governing authorities to identify areas with insufficient access to health care, which can in turn inform responsive programs or policy development.

Through our application, the Waterloo Health Organization aims to support the United Nations’ objective of reducing inequality in its various forms as well as to respond to the Calls to Action identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Video Presentation

Documentation

• README.md

Team Members

Claire Barker-Sharp: Claire is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning. She is currently working towards completing a Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Honours Urban Planning, with a Diploma of Excellence in Geographic Information Systems and a Diploma in Sustainability. She has a strong interest in environmentalism and urban studies, and hopes to become a specialist in a field that incorporates the two. She conducted GIS related tasks such as app development and data cleaning.

Jessica Vieira: Jessica is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. She conducted the research and writing for this project.

Logan Duff-Meadwell: Logan is a second year Master student in the Geography and Environmental Management department at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on the government adoption of AR and VR as civic technologies, along with this technology’s role and future in citizen-government processes. For the app challenge, he created the pitch video, conducted research and provided the French translation.