The Demographics Assessment .

Task 1 C228 V3

Rachel Mann

Western Governors University

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Needs Assessment

Demographics

The Demographics Assessment tool was very useful in organizing the demographic data of Sentinel City. The tool had eight areas of demographics to obtain information.  From the data obtained from the Sentinel City Community Health Simulation Demographics, I can assess that 18.9% of residents live below the poverty line and 61.8% are uninsured (Healthcare Learning Innovations).

Neighborhood Safety Assessment

The Neighborhood Safety Assessment gave me five areas to gather information about the living conditions of the residents of Sentinel City.  I did notice that the streets had a lot of trash and rodents that could spread disease and buildings were in disrepair and covered with graffiti.  According to the City Hall data drug arrest make up 16% of all arrests made by the police department (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  The most reported crime is aggravated assault and battery arrests make up 17% of all arrests made by police (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  There is a presence of gang violence, with murder committed by gang members on the rise according to statistics given by City Hall.  EMS has a quick response time of ten to fifteen minutes (Healthcare Learning Innovations).           

Scavenger Hunt

The Scavenger Hunt tool helped me to organize the information from Sentinel City’s many community resources.  There are six organizations to summarize in the tool.  I was able to gather information from several agencies that provide help and resources to the residents of Sentinel City.   There are many resources available to the residents but they may not be utilized as much as they should be.  

Windshield Survey

The Windshield Survey Tool provided many questions to answers as I toured the city.  This helped me to take notice of the people and their living conditions.  This helped me be more observant and organizes with the information I found in the simulation.  The community is urban with some green spaces for residents.  The sidewalks are nice and make the city walkable and safe for pedestrians.  The poorer neighborhoods have more trash, rodents and graffiti than the more prosperous neighborhoods.   The residents seem very active with many people walking, jogging, and playing in green recreation areas.  There are many people gathered in public social areas.  There is a lot of evidence of crime and poverty.  There were abandoned cars on fire, graffiti and broken windows.  There was an accumulation of trash on the sidewalks with stray dogs and rodents present.   There is plenty housing for wealthy and middle-income families.  There seems to be more housing for lower income families available in the last year.  However, there are homeless adults and children in need of housing.  I noticed that the healthiest food sources are in the wealthier neighborhood.  

 Data Analysis

Interpretation of Data Analysis

By using all the resources provided, I discovered several problem areas for Sentinel City.  There needs be more green areas for activities and social gatherings.  There does not seem to be a place for indoor activities for the community in cold months when outdoor activities decrease. Air pollution is an issue for the residents, since there are factories and little green space.  Homelessness is a problem for the city with 67% of people served by the soup kitchen is homeless (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  Drug use is an issue with 33% of ER visits for pain and 11% of the population uses prescription opioids (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  One in four of Sentinel City residents smoke, which is higher than the national average of 15.5 percent (CDC.gov). Teen Pregnancy in the city has more than doubled in the last year (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  Crime is an issue for the city with a rise in gang related violence.

Sentinel City Health Concerns

Three Problem Areas  

Three problem areas for Sentinel City are homelessness, crime, and substance abuse.  Homelessness is considered a social determinant of health according to Healthy People 2020 (Healthy People 2020).  The objective is for the prevention of homelessness by providing safe, affordable, quality housing (Healthy People 2020).  Gang related crime is increasing in Sentinel City (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  This increase goes against the Healthy People 2020 objective of prevention of community violence (Healthy People 2020).  Sentinel City has a substance abuse problem among its residences, including alcohol consumption and drug use (Healthcare Learning Innovations).  According to Healthy People 2020, we to promote responsible alcohol consumption and prevent IV drug use, prescription drug abuse and illegal drug use (Healthy People 2020).