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Discover indicators

library(healthatlas)

Let’s set our health atlas. For this example we will use the Chicago Health Atlas. We can do so by calling ha_set() with the Chicago Health Atlas URL.

ha_set("chicagohealthatlas.org")

If we need to check which health atlas we are using, we can use ha_get().

ha_get()

We can list all the topics (aka indicators) present within Chicago Health Atlas by using ha_topics(). The most important column here is the topic_key. An individual topic_key can be used to identify a topic within subsequent functions.

topics <- ha_topics(progress = FALSE)
topics

Note: topics can be derived from multiple datasets or belong to multiple subcategories or keywords. Therefore, these columns may be composed of tibbles or vectors. Filtering topics via these pieces of information is still quite easy using purrr::map_lgl().

library(dplyr)
library(purrr)

# filter by dataset
topics %>%
  filter(map_lgl(topic_datasets, ~ "healthy-chicago-survey" %in% .x$key))

# filter by subcategory
topics %>%
  filter(map_lgl(topic_subcategories, ~ "diet-exercise" %in% .x$key))

# filter by keyword
topics %>%
  filter(map_lgl(topic_keywords, ~ "activity" %in% .x))

There may be a specific topic area you are interested in exploring. You can explore these topic areas using ha_subcategories().

subcategories <- ha_subcategories()
subcategories

You can use a subcategory_key to subset the list of topics.

ha_topics("diet-exercise")

Once we have a topic or topics in mind, we can explore what populations, time periods, and geographic scales that data is available at by using ha_coverage(). Again, the most important columns here are the key columns which can be used to specify the data desired.

coverage <- ha_coverage("HCSFVAP", progress = FALSE)
coverage

Import tabular data

Now, we can import our data using ha_data() and specifying the keys we identified above.

ease_of_access <- ha_data(
  topic_key = "HCSFVAP",
  population_key = "",
  period_key = "2022-2023",
  layer_key = "neighborhood"
)
ease_of_access

We can even specify multiple topics, populations, and periods to get data for. ha_data() will return a combined table with data for every combination of topic, population, and period requested. A warning will be given for every invalid combindation of topic, population, and period requested.

combinations_of_data <- ha_data(
  topic_key = c("POP", "UMP"),
  population_key = c("", "H"),
  period_key = c("2017-2021", "2018-2022", "invalid"),
  layer_key = "neighborhood"
)
combinations_of_data

If you want to mix and match topics, populations, years, or layers of data, I recommend creating a table of all the datasets you want, and purrr::pmap()-ing over the table.

library(tibble)
library(purrr)

# creating a table of data I want
metadata <- tribble(
  ~topic_key , ~population_key , ~period_key , ~layer_key     ,
  "POP"      , ""              , "2017-2021" , "neighborhood" ,
  "HCSFVAP"  , ""              , "2020-2021" , "neighborhood" ,
  "UMP"      , "H"             , "2017-2021" , "neighborhood" ,
)

metadata %>%
  pmap(ha_data)

Import spatial data

We can see all the geographic layers available by using ha_layers().

layers <- ha_layers()
layers

Since we just downloaded our data at the Community Area level, let’s import the Community Area geographic layer with ha_layer().

community_areas <- ha_layer("neighborhood")
community_areas

You can also set geometry = TRUE within your data call to get the geographic layer’s geometry along with your data.

ease_of_access <- ha_data(
  topic_key = "HCSFVAP",
  population_key = "",
  period_key = "2022-2023",
  layer_key = "neighborhood",
  geometry = TRUE
)
ease_of_access

Let’s map our data!

library(ggplot2)

plot <- ggplot(ease_of_access) +
  geom_sf(aes(fill = value), alpha = 0.7) +
  scale_fill_distiller(palette = "GnBu", direction = 1) +
  labs(
    title = "Easy Access to Fruits and Vegetables within Chicago",
    fill = "Percent of adults who reported\nthat it is very easy for them to\nget fresh fruits and vegetables."
  ) +
  theme_minimal()
plot

Our map looks pretty good, but perhaps there is a point layer that may provide more insight into the spatial variation of the ease of access to fruits and vegetables. We can use ha_point_layers() to list all the point layers available in the Chicago Health Atlas.

point_layers <- ha_point_layers()
point_layers

Grocery store locations may be an important aspect of the ease of access to fruits and vegetables. We can import this layer by providing the point_layer_uuid to ha_point_layer().

grocery_stores <- ha_point_layer("7d9caf3c-75e6-4382-8c97-069696a3efbf")

Now that we have imported our grocery stores, let’s layer them on top of our map.

plot +
  geom_sf(data = grocery_stores, size = 0.5)

As expected, it seems that the areas with more grocery stores tend to have a higher percent of adults who report that it is very easy to get fresh fruits and vegetables.

This is a typical use case for the healthatlas in which we explored every function that healthatlas has to offer. Now it’s time for you to explore!