Week 2 Discussion: Demographic and Epidemiological Assessment
Instructions: this is a 2-part assignment:
Part one: discussion board post which has instructions listed below.
Part two: reply to 2 discussions. Those need 1 scholarly reference each.
Required reading:
Access to book:
https://www.vitalsource.com/ OR. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/
book name: Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations
Citation:
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2019). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier.
Required reading:
- Chapter 5: Epidemiology, pp. 70–82
- Chapter 6: Community Assessment, pp. 92–105
- Chapter 7: Community Health Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation, pp. 107–115
- Chapter 8: Community Health Education, pp. 124-135, 142-151
Required Websites
U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). Quickfacts. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ (Links to an external site.)
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. (2018). How healthy is your community? Retrieved from http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/
Weekly lesson attached separately. Cite this as “weekly lesson” and I will fix it when I turn it in.
Initial Post Instructions
For this discussion, you will collect assessment data about your city or county. This post will include information about demographics (general characteristics). You will then find epidemiological data (disease or health behavior rates) about one priority health problem in your community.
>>Please use Cuyahoga county<<
- Demographic data:Go online to the U.S. Census Bureau at https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ (Links to an external site.). Obtain a range information about the demographic characteristics of the population for your city or county of residence. You may have to look at county data if your city is not listed. Discuss demographic data about age, ethnicity, poverty levels, housing, and education.
- Epidemiological data:Go to your city or county health department website (search the Internet) or County Health Rankings (http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/ (Links to an external site.)), and report epidemiological data about one priority health problem in your area. Examples include diabetes, heart disease, addiction, obesity, teen pregnancy, and more. Be sure that you accurately report how each statistic is measured. In the County Health Rankings site, you can hover over the category, and it will explain how it is measured.
- How do the demographic characteristics of your community influence the health problem you chose?
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. (2018). Explore rankings. Retrieved from http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/
U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). State and county QuickFacts. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/
Part two: discussion post replies, will require 1 scholarly source each, please reply to both, if the initial post takes away from the two pages I pay for, shorten it.
Follow-Up Posts
Compare your analysis with your peers. Examine how yours are similar and/or different. Build on their posts by providing additional information about the acts that you have not already noted in your own post.
Respond to two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification. PLEASE REPLY TO BOTH!
Follow up #1: Sophia b
The community I focused on is Kings County specifically the area of Brighton Beach and Gravesand as Kings County is a large area.. During my windshield survey I observed a vast amount of elderly population and a pharmacy on every block. Most of the people walking in the street were overweight. There are a vast amount of playgrounds, a boardwalk and beach available with gyms on the beach and beach volleyball courts available, The County Health Ranking demonstrated that there
| Adult smoking (Links to an external site.) | 15% | 14-15% | 14% | 14% | ||
| Adult obesity (Links to an external site.) | 23% | 21-24% | 26% | 26% | ||
| Food environment index (Links to an external site.) | 7.4 | 8.7 | 9.1 | |||
| Physical inactivity (Links to an external site.) | 26% | 24-27% | 19% | 25% | ||
| Access to exercise opportunities (Links to an external site.) | 100% | 91% | 93% | |||
| Excessive drinking (Links to an external site.) | 19% | 19-20% | 13% | 19% | ||
| Alcohol-impaired driving deaths (Links to an external site.) | 12% | 10-15% | 13% | 21% | ||
| Sexually transmitted infections (Links to an external site.) | 754.7 | 152.8 | 552.8 | |||
| Teen births (Links to an external site.) | 20 | 20-20 | 14 | 16 |
I am not surprised by the results of the County Health Rankings as my observations were accurate. There are many elderly living in the community who many have physical inactivity due to physical impairments. There is however access to exercise to all people. I believe that the best way to make individuals physically active and fight the obesity crisis is to educate people on the free programs provided by the government as well as educate individuals on the importance of a proper diet regimen. Through educating about the health crisis and ways to beat obesity and live a healthy lifestyle the quality of life will be better and a major risk factor to many diseases would significantly decrease.
Compared to Monmouth County, NJ, Kings County has a higher rate of smoking however while adult obesity is the same, it was surprising that the access to exercise was higher in Kings County yet the rate of obesity is the same. This comes to show that there is either a deficit of knowledge in Kings County on the exercise opportunities available or there is no incentive for adults to fight obesity. Educating people on the risk factors that obesity plays on disease such as diabetes mellitus and heart disease are an important tool to increase the health outcomes of individuals. A study published in the Simulation in Health Care demonstrated that nurses rarely use simulation to educate patients on the importance of their health. The study demonstrated that more patients adapted to the recommendations (Pennecot, 2020). As nurses, it is our job to use various techniques available to educate the patients about the opportunities available to take control of their health and increase their quality of life.
Compared to the state and US average, Kings county has a lower level of obesity however a higher level of adult smokers, STDs and teen births. This can best be linked to the dense population in Kings County, that range in economic status. I was surprised that we rank higher in excessive drinking on the state level but are average in the US. The dense population in Kings County plays a role in the high rate of excess drinking as compared to the state average.
The disease that is currently a pandemic is the coronavirus. The first 2 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in Kings County today and this is just the beginning of this pandemic. Sanitizers are sold out in all stores as well as clorox wipes, bleach, alcohol, masks and water. People are scared due to fear of dying and complications from the disease. This pandemic is causing much concern as people who are told to stay in quarantine are still going out and thus infecting other people. As nurses, we should be setting an example and not going into work if we are sick. We should address the situation first hand and assure individuals how respiratory infections are spread and the steps to take to avoid getting sick.
Follow up #2: Heather
The demographic data for my township, Cumru Township, in Pennsylvania is a middle-class suburban area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the ages under 18 to be 21.9% and persons age 65 or older to be 23.3% (2018). The area is predominantly white at 88.3%, with Hispanic at 10.1%, African American at 3.4%, and Asian at 2.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). The poverty level is estimated at 4.8% with the median household income to be at $73,089 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). We came in fairly well with 93% of the population having a high school diploma, while only 33.6% had a higher degree (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). I also found it pretty interesting for 86.8% of persons are living in the same house after one year (U.S. Census Bureau).
The results of the Epidemiological data were not surprising to me for Berks County, Pennsylvania, as we have a large number of Pennsylvania Dutch persons who love to cook and eat with lots of salt, butter, and sugar. Adult obesity, which is the measurement of adults over the age of 20 with a BMI >30, is at 33% (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, 2018). To further add to this, physical inactivity, measured by the number of adults over the age of 20 who do not take part in leisure time exercise, is at 24%.
Ecosocial epidemiology focuses not only on the microbiology of the disease but also the political and economic forces (Nies & McEwen, 2019). This shows how it is important to not only look at the disease itself, but also how the environment and living situations can affect a disease and its progression. The demographic information and the epidemiological fit together because, my township is a majority of middle aged, educated, working individuals, who have lived in the area for quite some time. There are many places to eat whether it is fast food, or restaurants and with parents trying to keep up with children’s activities, there isn’t much time for healthy, home prepared meals and exercise. I also see working in the local hospital the number of patients who come in with hypertension, heart failure, coronary artery disease, and stroke, and those who have no desire to change their lifestyle because this was how they were raised. People adopt the lifestyle for which they are living in, if the area suffers from obesity, they too will gain weight, because that is what they learn from the people around them (Katare & Beatty, 2018). If this can happen to students who are only in an area for a short period of time, this can explain what is happening to the people who live in Berks County for many years.
This information is pretty close to the information I collected during my windshield study. The health issues really didn’t surprise me as I was born and raised in Berks County and see this day after day. The data for Berks County isn’t too far off from the data for the state of Pennsylvania either, which was a little surprising to me. I guess I wanted to think Pennsylvania was healthier than it is.
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