Community Assessment Paper Example

Introduction

Community assessment entails identifying the strengths, weaknesses and the needs of a particular community (Smathers & Lobb, 2014). Health professionals manage to conduct a community assessment using a windshield survey. The windshield survey is where the health professional will drive or walk around a community that they are assessing and record their observation. Community assessment is one of the concepts that community nurses depend on in their line of work. Community nurses provide patient care outside the hospital setting. They provide nursing care to people's homes, schools and even police custody. Community nurses work in tandem with other professionals such as General Practitioners (GPs), and social workers to provide individualized care. In this discussion, Sentinel City is the community of interest. An assessment of the city reveals some details about the physical environment, health, and social services along with the characteristics that can influence health.

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Physical Environment

Sentinel City has no clear boundaries as rivers or change in terrain. However, there are economic differences between the different sections of the city as evidenced by the conditions of the homes and the environment around them. The Arch Tech Center is a high-income neighborhood with condominiums and community center while Casper District is an old low-income neighborhood with affordable housing projects. Additionally, Nightingale Square is an upper-class section with trees, which offer shade to pedestrians. There are also cement sidewalks for people who are jogging. The residents lack a credible place to do their shopping except for groceries. The common areas in Nightingale Square include the benches for people to watch and enjoy nature. In general, the city lacks credible common areas for group hangouts. For example, the park with ex-cons in Casper Park district is an unattractive option for hanging out because of the presence of ex-cons in the area. That means the primary type of group hangouts that takes place in the city involves ex-cons doing community service. The sense of territoriality or openness is dependent upon the side of the neighborhood that a person visits. Sections of Arch Tech Center and Nightingale District have an openness to strangers while Casper Park district and Industrial heights have a good sense of territoriality. The graffiti is only available in low-income neighborhoods of Casper Park district and Industrial Area Heights. The assessment did not identify any billboards or gang sign tagging. However, that does not translate to their absence. In most cases, the key indicators of the presence of gangs are present in other elements. For example, the presence of broke down cars, that are vandalized in the streets is an indicator of some criminal activity in the neighborhood.

Health and Social Services

There are various health services in the community. There is a dentist's office and urgent care in Nightingale Square. Also, a hospital is five minutes away from Nightingale Square. There are some healthy food choices restaurants and grocery stores around the city. There is Lilly's organic food restaurant. There is also Joe's grocery store that offers both organic and non-organic food options. There is also fresh fruits and vegetable stands down in Arch Tech Center. There is a Sushi restaurant in the Casper Park district. Industrial Heights has no healthy food options. Bodegas is the only convenience store in the area. Unfortunately, Sentinel City has an elderly home as the only long-term care facility. The city is struggling with insecurity issues as evidenced by the heavy police presence on every corner of Casper Park District.

Impact of Physical Environment on Health

The assessment identified some characteristics of the physical environment in Sentinel city that can affect the health of its inhabitants. The physical environment can impact the health of a population either positively or negatively (National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, Woolf, & Aron, 2013). The first characteristic of the physical environment is the sidewalks and parks. According to Scott & Wilson (2011), the presence of sidewalks and parks for joggers encourages physical activity, which reduces the rates of obesity and its associated diseases. The second characteristic is the garbage in the streets with rodents. These elements may contaminate the water systems and lead to an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases (Remoundou & Koundouri, 2009). The third characteristic of the city's physical environment is the police and fire sirens in the background, which creates anxiety. The situation does not favor people suffering from cardiovascular diseases. It may affect their health by increasing their stress levels.

Conclusion

A community assessment of Sentinel City reveals some positive factors in its physical and social environment. Features of the physical environment such as trees, cement sidewalks, and parks are good for the health of its inhabitants. They positively influence the health of the inhabitants by encouraging physical activities. Other elements such as sirens build anxiety and increase the stress levels of the city's inhabitants. On the social front, the city boasts of long-term healthcare facilities such as elderly nursing home and healthcare facilities within 5 minutes reach. These features contribute positively to the health of Sentinel city inhabitants.

References

National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, Woolf, S., & Aron, L. (2013). U.S. health in international perspective: shorter lives, poorer health. Institute of Medicine(IOM), National Research Council(NRC). Washington(DC): National Academies Press. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK115854/

Remoundou, K., & Koundouri, P. (2009, August). Environmental effects on public health: An economic perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(8), 2160-2178. doi:10.3390/ijerph6082160

Scott, A., & Wilson, R. R. (2011, February 7). Social determinants of health among African Americans in a rural community in the Deep South: an ecological exploration. Rural and Remote Health, 11(1), 1-12. Retrieved from https://www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/1634

Smathers, C., & Lobb, J. (2014, October 15). Community Assessment. Retrieved from Ohioline: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/CDFS-7