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Access to pharmacies is critical for obtaining prescription drugs and protecting public health but pharmacy access can differ by location. This project will use computational modeling and geographic data analysis to examine inequities in pharmacy access in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The project will compile publicly available data on pharmacy locations, neighborhood boundaries, population characteristics, and transportation networks. The project will estimate travel distances and, where data are available, travel times from different neighborhoods to the nearest pharmacies using geographic information systems (GIS) and programming tools. The analysis will examine access across neighborhoods and identify locations where residents may need to travel farther to reach a pharmacy.
The project will also investigate the impact of different measures of accessibility, such as straight-line distance versus estimated road travel time.
The project will also explore how different accessibility measures (e.g., straight-line distance vs. estimated road travel time) affect the identification of underserved areas. If sufficient data are available, additional analyzes will examine relationships between pharmacy access and neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics.
The final product will be a collection of static or interactive maps and a computational analysis to identify potential gaps in pharmacy access. Through geospatial analysis and data-driven modeling, this project seeks to demonstrate the potential of computing to assist communities in understanding healthcare accessibility, and to inform future studies on enhancing access to vital medications.