This paper describes the construction of an information system, integrating geographic and health care data for elderly people with dementia who were registered in Family Health Units in a municipality in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The study is descriptive, based on a quantitative investigation conducted between June, 2006 and June, 2007. The methodological steps included the preparation of a database, registering the attributes of the elderly; of a second, geo-referenced registry; and the development of an operational platform to link these two information sets. In-home evaluations were conducted with 1048 elderly, 275 of whom presented cognitive impairments. The creation of this system enables a visualization of the geographic distribution of elderly with dementia, the investigation of geographic and health data associations; and the identification of risk and vulnerability factors. As such, geo-processing technologies enable important new possibilities for planning care initiatives in gerontology, improving public health program management.
Aged; Dementia; Public health; Family health; Geographic information systems
