Community Health Nursing - Assignment Example

?Community Health Assessment: Baden, St. Louis, MO Introduction This paper is going to explore the black community living in Baden neighborhood in St. Louis City, Missouri. Baden is located in the Northern side of Saint Louis city. It is bounded by Calvary Avenue to the south, the Norfolk-western railroad on the southwest and to the east by Hall Street. The black population is the largest in this area followed by the white population and the rest racial groupings comprise of a small percentage. The black community in this area has a long history and has continued to show tremendous growth in many aspects as compared to the white population that has continued to diminish. Many African Americans making up the community moved to this area that was previously associated with the whites and have since become the majority according to the 2010 census statistics. The community has a rich culture a mixture of the black culture and the white culture of the Germans immigrants who used to stay in this place. Demographic and Epidemiological data Baden community has a total population of 7,268 people of which the blacks make up a total of 6,676 while the whites are 461. The American Indian and Alaska native are 9; the native Hawaiian and other pacific islanders have been found to comprise of 1 individual (US. Census Bureau, 2011). The Asian are 3 while other people of two or more races are 96 of which the Hispanic and Latinos have been found to be 27. The other category comprised of 22 people and this is according to the 2010 census results. The current population of Baden has declined since the 2000 census from 8,441 to the current 7,268 representing a -14% decline. This has been attributed to the high rate of crime in the area that has contributed greatly to the decline in the population. This statistics represent the general trend in St. Louis County where the general population has been declining since the last census (US. Census Bureau, 2011). Reports also show that the place is a food desert and therefore many people have no access to fresh food (Gustin, 2010). Research has shown that without access to fresh food many people develop a range of health problems that range from diabetes to other nutrition-influenced illnesses such as obesity (Omoleke, 2011). The food deserts issue does not seem to affect Baden only. Statistics show that the entire country is faced with the problem of food deserts where people cannot access fresh fruits and vegetables. Approximately 23.5 million Americans are said to be living in a food desert (The week, 2011). A food desert is defined by the US department of Agriculture as any census district where approximately 20% of the inhabitants are living below the poverty line and 33% are staying over a mile from the nearest supermarket (Starr, 2011). Both the lower end and the upper end of the American population are affected with the problem of food desert with the problem existing both in urban and rural areas. In America, areas such as West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky that are majorly rural are faced with this problem as well as areas such as Detroit, Chicago and New York which are in the urban category (Starr, 2011). Windshield Survey A closer exploration of Baden reveals a lot of information about this community. There are various types of housing in this areas and these range from modern houses to the old architectural designs of houses. Residential houses are seen to be many and of different categories. Some or good stone houses mansions while some like those around the train tracks are mostly houses that are built for convenience purposes. Many of them are in bad state. There are many schools in Baden most of which are private and these include kindergartens and elementary schools. Baden school is the only public school in the community and serves many students. Baden has many churches most of which are Christian churches and these include Church of God, Our Lady of the Holy Cross, Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Dove Covenant Christian Center, Holy Cross church, Riverview Church of God and The New Life Community Church of God. Baden community has many health providers and these range from general hospitals to specialty hospitals and clinics that serve various people. Some of these include the following: Christian Hospital Ambulance, Washington University School of Medicine, Scrubs and Beyond etc. some of the specialty hospitals include: Ranken Jordan hospital that specializes in pediatric care, St. Louis children’s hospital and Washington University Eye Center. The only hazard that is seen to affect this area is the tornadoes and this affects a larger part of Missouri. The Problem The major problem that affects the community in Baden as identified earlier is the problem of lack of access to fresh food produce that has made this part of St. Louis a food desert. This is evident from the statistics available on this area that show this community as an urban business district where healthful affordable food is difficult to obtain. To compound the problem the community has not struggled to open up fast food restaurants as is the case with many other communities that are faced with this kind of problem. The community in Baden is affected to a large extent with this problem just like other counties and states in the United States of America. This problem can be linked to the 2020 healthy people objectives under the topic of nutrition and weight loss (US. DHHS, 2012). The objectives stated under this that can be used to address the problem are objectives one and two under Healthier food access. Objective one is to increase the number of states with nutrition standards for foods and beverages provided to preschool-aged children in child care. The second objective is to increase the proportion of schools that do not sell or offer calorically sweetened beverages to students (US. DHHS, 2012). Historical significance and trends Food deserts is not a recent phenomenon in the united states and stems from the fact that industrialization causes the deletion of areas that can be used for the production of healthy foods and these include agricultural lands (Story et. al, 2008 ). As industrialization continues so is the difficulty in accessing healthy foods. Therefore the only thing that is available for people is the fast foods that are cheap and affordable to people. This problem affects both the rural and the urban areas but is prevalent in low socio-economic minority communities. Food deserts are therefore associated with a variety of diet-related health problems (Story et. al, 2008 ). A lot of research in this area indicates that the people in the low income category shop where food prices are lower and therefore cannot afford healthful foods. If a comparison is made between the people in the high income neighborhoods with the low income households, it is evident that these individuals generally consume meals that are high in meat and processed foods but have a very low intake of fresh fruits and vegetables (Ploeg, 2009). Continued industrialization has led to the growth of this problem nationwide that has led to many interventions being made by the US department of Agriculture to sort out the problem (Ploeg, 2009). Summary Lack of access to fresh food produce makes a community a food desert and this has a great impact on the health of individuals in a given community. Nutritional ailments are rampant because of the lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables by a given community (Omoleke, 2011). This in turn makes people to consume fast foods and other processed foods that are not good for their health. This is evident in this community with many people seeking fresh food produce from other communities. Other supermarkets have been built around Baden to help solve the problem. This problem specifically affects two categories of people: those who have low incomes and the elderly (Ploeg, 2009). The low income people cannot access the foods because of their low budgets while the elderly cannot access these foods because of mobility issues. To solve this problem therefore these foods must be accessible and at the same time affordable so that people can get access to them and help prevent nutritional problems (Ploeg, 2009). References Gustin, G. (2010, December 18). North St. Louis Aims Higher: BAden. Retrieved January 13, 2012, from Stl. Today: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_3d0dde42-0753-57f0-aab4-82d801063506.html Omoleke, S. A. (2011). Obesity: A major public health challenge of 21st century in the United Kingdom. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology, 3(12): 560-566. Ploeg, M. V. (2009). Economic Research Service Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences. Educational Research Service. Washington D.C: United States Department of Agriculture. Starr, P. (2011, July 22). USDA: 6,501 'Foods Deserts' Are Spread Across Most of U.S. Mainland. Retrieved January 13, 2012, from CNS News Online: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/usda-6501-food-deserts-are-spread-across-most-us-mainland Story, M. (2008). Creating Healthy Food and Eating Environments: Policy and Environmental Approaches. The Annual Review of Public Health, 253-72. The week. (2011, August 12). America's Food Deserts. Retrieved January 13, 2012, from The Week Online: http://theweek.com/article/index/218167/americarsquos-food-deserts US. Census Bureau. (2011). Census Results. Retrieved January 13, 2012, from The city of St. Louis, Missouri: http://dynamic.stlouis-mo.gov/census/cities.cfm US. DHHS. (2012, January). Nutrition and weight loss. Retrieved January 13, 2012, from Healthy People 2020: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist.aspx?topicId=29 Read More