Tutorial for the Special Needs Populations Mapping Tool

Welcome to the RAND Special Needs Populations Mapping Tool for Public Health Preparedness. This tool is designed to assist the user with:

• Identifing the special needs populations in a community of interest
• Understanding the geographic distribution of special needs populations at the local level, as well as the state and county level.
• Determining how to best plan for the needs of different special needs populations in various geographical areas
• Determining how to best target public health response activities at the local level to meet the needs of populations.

The following pages provide information about using the Special Needs Mapping Tool, and describe the functions and interfaces of the tools that were developed to facilitate these goals:

1. Thematic Analysis
2. Views and Geographic Levels
3. Zoom and Navigation
4. Selection
5. Customizing the map
6. Information about the Selection
7. Output
8. Table areas
9. Advanced Functions

Special Needs Population Mapping - Main View

Upon launching, the interactive Atlas opens full screen in a new browser window. The map covers most of the screen, and shows the USA divided into states.

The map is interactive. Moving the mouse over it displays the name and mapped values for that geographic region in a pop-up box. Clicking on a territory displays an information table on the selection.

The interactive features, buttons and drop-down lists, are arranged in coherent groups above the map, and in the control panel on the right-hand side of the screen. They allow the user to manipulate the displays and the map.