A short distance can lead to a large difference in life expectancy. This is the focus of the Center’s life expectancy mapping project, a study that illustrates through media-friendly maps the vastly different health outcomes experienced by Americans living just a few miles apart.
On March 4, 2015, the Center released the first in a new series of 20 maps showing health disparities that exist across short distances in cities and rural areas across the United States. For the first map released recently, VCU researchers gathered vital statistics and calculated life expectancy for infants born today within different zip codes in Las Vegas, Nevada. The results show that although separated by only a few miles, those living in The Strip have a life expectancy that is 16 years shorter than those living in the 89183 zip code area.
The Las Vegas map (featured above) garnered local Las Vegas media attention and was featured in the following print and broadcast media:
- Las Vegas Sun
- Las Vegas Journal-Review
- Health Data Management
- KXNT-FM (CBS Radio Affiliate) – To hear the radio interview with Dr. Derek Chapman, associate director for research, please click the following audio link:
The Center, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, aims to raise awareness about the health implications of social factors through its mapping project and will release maps of the remaining cities in 2015.