Using GIS-based models to protect children from lead exposure

Community-based operations research (CBOR) is the use of analytical methods with government and organizations in the formal and informal non-profit sector to improve the lives of individuals and communities. The beneficiaries of these methods tend to be localized, as well as members of disadvantaged and underserved groups. Examples of problems amenable to CBOR include: design of public infrastructure such as parks and public art; location of facilities such as homeless shelters or elder care facilities; social interventions such as public health initiatives or anti-violence programs, and improved processes such as grants management or human service provision, among many others. Solutions to these problems may be difficult and/or controversial due to conflicting notions of fairness, social impacts or social norms, or because of stigmatized or marginalized populations.