Health statistics on Boston
A comprehensive assessment of a community is a vital step in providing proper community health nursing services, and it is achieved by conducting a windshield survey. A health practitioner performs a windshield survey through driving around the community he/she is performing the informal research and recording his/her observations. The data and information collected during a windshield survey are precious since it can be applied in identifying the health issues affecting the community. Therefore, the information is crucial in determining the health-related needs of the community and evaluating the necessity of extra community health services. The purpose of this essay is to present and analyze the observations and findings made when I conducted a windshield survey in my home town, Boston, Massachusetts. Also, discussing the major health issues affecting my selected target group
Boston is a relatively large city, and there are places I have never toured because mostly I tend just to visit a few places when I go by there. However, I observed a lot more while driving around in the area. My family resides in the Fenway-Kenmore area near the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital to become the largest healthcare provider in the city. This implies that the Fenway community has access to all healthcare services. While driving through Fenway Park, I noted limited landscaping and very few animals since I saw only a few stray cats and no dogs. This implies that there are fewer risks of children poisoning through plants and contracting soil or animal-borne diseases.
There are many private schools in this are but only a few public schools. Also, I noticed that all school structures for both public and private schools, although in some instances there was inadequate playground space. During the evening hours, I observed that most of the people noticeable on the streets were women and children with a few men. Most of the people were neatly dressed, that is, modestly and tastefully. Also, I observed that many workers were leaving the Brigham and Women’s Hospital wearing scrubs and others leaving their respective workplaces. This implies that a large percentage of this population has access to employment, thus able to sustain their daily living.
The population observed was mainly composed of white people, but also Hispanic, African American, and Asian people were observed. In terms of residential location, most of the whites are highly concentrated at the center of Fenway Park while other groups are dispersed throughout the community. When depicting the racial and ethnic characteristics of this community, I noticed most of the institution names such as churches and schools were described in Irish or Italian concepts. However, most of the churches observed varied by groups such as Mosaic Boston Church, Aletheia Church-Cambridge, and Park Street Church. Also, several mosques, Buddhist, and Hindu temples were observed. On the far sides of Fenway Park, I observed several commercial stores being operated by Chinese characters.
The median household income of the Fenway area in Boston was approximately $85,700 in 2017, which was higher than the median household of the Massachusetts and nation ( ghg). This supports the evidence I observed of fancy stores, large homes, and luxury vehicles, which indicate that some of the community members are very wealthy. However, Around Brigham and Women’s Hospital, I noticed evidence of mental illness and disease when I saw a particular man on the street who seemed poorly kept and untidy started to suddenly yell posing to be talking to a person through a mobile phone.
Health statistics on Boston, Massachusetts indicate that 96.4 percent of the Boston population has health coverage, with 51.9 percent on employee plans ( bfnf). The other group being covered under Medicaid, Medicare, military programs, or non-group plans. The statistics also show that primary care physicians in this city attend to about 960 patients per year on average, which indicate a patient to clinical ratios of 960 to 1. Bristol County is recorded to have the highest prevalence of diabetes of about 12 percent in comparison to other counties. Also, the county has the highest incidence of adult obesity of approximately 30 percent.
Diabetes is ranked seventh-leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for about 80,000 deaths annually ( ghgj). Diabetes also contributes the first and fifth-leading causes of death, that is, heart conditions and stroke. Also, diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, amputations of a nontraumatic lower limb, and blindness in adults ( hfh). According to an annual report by Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, the Boston population with the highest prevalence of diabetes is American Indian/Alaska native adults with the highest percentage of about 15 percent in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups ( hgh). African Americans were comprising about 13 percent, followed by Hispanics with 12 percent and Asian adults with 8.2 percent. Also, the likelihood of American adults with Indian or Alaska ethnicity to have been diagnosed with diabetes is twice more in comparison to other white adults.
A community health service should help the Indian and Alaskan native members of the Boston community by starting initiatives with diabetes prevention strategies since it is a significant risk factor for other severe chronic ailments. The action should advocate for diabetes screening for all members of this community and offering them medical services. Moreover, the program should address the most affected population on how to manage diabetic conditions through lifestyle changes and healthcare interventions. The lifestyle modifications include increasing physical activity, losing weight, and improving in dietary choices.