Introduction of Community

Selected community – Golden Beach is located in Miami, Florida. The assessment was broken down into several stages for increasing its efficiency (Stanhope, Lancaster, Jakubec, & Pike-MacDonald, 2017).

Windshield Survey

Vitality

• Are people visible in the community? What are they doing?
  • People are visible. They are communicating, using their laptops, or heading somewhere.
• Who are the people living in the neighborhood? What is their age range? What is the predominant age (e.g., elderly, preschoolers, young mothers, or school-aged children)?
  • The neighborhood predominantly consists of young families (30 to 40 years old) with and without children.
• What ethnicity or race is most common?
  • Although some representatives of minorities were noticed (African Americans and Asians), whites are the most common race.
• What is the general appearance of those you observed? Do they appear healthy? Do you notice any people with obvious disabilities, such as those using walkers or wheelchairs, or those with mental or emotional disabilities? Where do they live?
  • Most people were without obvious physical or mental disabilities and with satisfying appearance living in single-family houses and condos.
• Do you notice residents who are well-nourished or malnourished, thin or obese, vigorous or frail, unkempt or scantily dressed, or well dressed and clean?
  • Except for three obese residents and two homeless people, people were clean and looked well nourished.
• Do you notice tourists or visitors to the community?
  • Most people seemed familiar with the community. Therefore, no signs of tourists.
• Do you observe any people who appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
  • All people appeared sober.
• Do you see any pregnant women? Do you see women with strollers and young children?
  • There were both pregnant women and young mothers with strollers.

Indicators of social and economic conditions

• What is the general condition of the homes you observe? Are these single-family homes or multifamily structures? Is there any evidence of dilapidated housing or areas undergoing urban renewal? Is there public housing? What is its condition?
  • There are single- and multifamily houses (condos). Except for one house under reconstruction, most of them seemed clean and neat. There were several signs of constructing new multifamily housing facilities that point to urban renewal.
• What forms of transportation do people seem to be using? Is there public transit? Are there adequate bus stops with benches and shade? Is transportation to health care resources available?
  • People use both public and private transportation. Bus stops are adequate, clean, and located close to health care resources.
• Are there any indicators of the kinds of work available to residents? Are there job opportunities nearby, such as factories, small businesses, or military installations? Are there unemployed people visible, such as homeless people?
  • Some homeless people are seen. There are many restaurants, some business and trading centers, and small businesses that point to various employment opportunities.
• Do you see men congregating in groups on the street? What do they look like, and what are they doing?
  • No evidence of gangs.
• Is this a rural area? Are there farms or agricultural businesses?
  • The community is located in the urban territory. Except for small gardens and plots in people’s backyards, there were no other signs of agricultural activities.
• Do you note any seasonal workers, such as migrant or day laborers?
  • Several Hispanics and Asians were noted. However, it is impossible to conclude whether they are migrants or residents, as they appeared familiar with the community.
• Do you see any women hanging out along the streets? What are they doing?
  • Some women on their own were seen in public transport, at cafés and bus stops. They were busy with their telephones, making notes, reading, and walking.
• Do you observe any children or adolescents out of school during the daytime?
  • No signs of kids missing school. Those seen in the streets were with adult people.
• Do you observe any interest in political campaigns or issues, such as campaign signs?
  • No activities pointing to a particular interest in politics were noted. However, there were some signs of political campaigns, such as leaflets and billboards.
• Do you see any evidence of health education on billboards, advertisements, signs, radio stations, or television stations? Do these methods seem appropriate for the people you observed?
  • There were several bus stop advertisements and road signs pointing to the hospital location. Medical centers and doctors’ offices were advertised over the radio. People showed little interest in this information.
• What kinds of schools and daycare centers are available?
  • Public schools and daycare centers available.

Health Resources

• Do you notice any hospitals? What kind are they? Where are they located?
  • All health care facilities noted (medical centers, hospitals, and dentist offices) were located close to bus stops, main roads, schools, and housing facilities.
• Are there any clinics? Whom do they serve? Are there any family planning services?
  • No family planning services or specialized clinics were noted. However, there were advertisements for both facilities at bus stops.
• Are there doctors’ and dentists’ offices? Are they specialists or generalists?
  • Offices of both dentists and doctors offering specialized and general care seen.
• Do you notice any nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, mental health clinics, alcohol or drug treatment centers, homeless or abused shelters, wellness clinics, health department facilities, urgent care centers, mobile health vehicles, blood donation centers, or pharmacies?
  • Rehabilitation centers, wellness clinics, and pharmacies noticed.
• Are these resources appropriate and sufficient to address the kinds of problems that exist in this community?
  • Available resources seem sufficient for addressing potential community problems due to the operation of medical centers, wellness clinics, and dentists’ and doctors’ offices.

Environmental conditions related to health

• Do you see evidence of anything that might make you suspicious of ground, water, or air pollutants?
  • Together with the extensive use of transportation, location in the urban territory is the main factor pointing to air pollution.
• What is the sanitary condition of the housing? Is housing overcrowded, dirty, or in need of repair? Are windows screened?
  • Windows in all houses screened. Sanitary conditions and the overall appearance of housing are satisfying, as most houses were clean and needed no repair.
• What is the condition of the roads? Are potholes present? Are drainage systems in place? Are there low water crossings, and do they have warning signals? Are there adequate traffic lights, signs, sidewalks, and curbs? Are railroad crossings fitted with warnings and barriers? Are streets and parking lots well lit? Is this a heavily trafficked area, or are roads rural? Are there curves or features that make the roads hazardous?
  • Located in the urban territory, it is a heavily trafficked area. The overall impression is positive because roads were of adequate quality, needed no repair, with drainage systems and traffic lights. Sidewalks were clean. No signs of hazardous roads or railways.
• Is there handicapped access to buildings, sidewalks, and streets?
  • No physical barriers to accessing buildings, sidewalks, and streets.
• Do you observe recreational facilities and playgrounds? Are they being used? Is there a YMCA/YWCA or community center? Are there any daycare facilities or preschools?
  • Playgrounds, parks, and daycare facilities have been seen. They were used by community residents for entertainment and education.
• Are children playing in the streets, alleys, yards, or parks?
  • Children were playing far from roads – in parks and yards.
• Do you see any restaurants?
  • Many different restaurants – from fast food to luxury segment as well as cafés and coffee shops.
• Is food sold on the streets? Are people eating in public areas? Are there trash receptacles and places for people to sit? Are public restrooms available?
  • People were eating in public areas because food is sold in the streets. Regardless of the popularity of fast food booths, people have access to trash receptacles, public restrooms, and places to sit while eating.
• What evidence of any nuisances such as ants, flies, mosquitoes, or rodents do you observe? Are there stray animals wandering in the neighborhood?
  • Mosquitos, ants, and flies noticed. No signs of rodents or stray.

Social functioning

• Do you observe any families in the neighborhoods? Can you observe their structure or functioning? Who is caring for the children? What kind of supervision do they have? Is more than one generation present?
  • Most of the community members are married couples (both same-sex and traditional) with children. Both parents take care of kids. In some families, more than one generation was present.
• Are there any identifiable subgroups related to one another either socially or geographically?
  • No identifiable subgroups were noticed.
• What evidence of a sense of neighborliness can you observe?
  • No evident signs of conflicts were seen. Neighbors seem friendly.
• What evidence of community cohesiveness can you observe? Are there any group efforts in the neighborhood to improve the living conditions or the neighborhood? Is there a neighborhood watch? Do community groups post signs for neighborhood meetings?
  • Some posts for neighborhood meetings are seen. All housing facilities were clean and well-arranged that might point to group efforts for improving their environment.
• How many and what type of churches, synagogues, and other places of worship are there?
  • One Orthodox church and one synagogue noted.
• Can you observe anything that would make you suspicious of social problems, such as gang activity, juvenile delinquency, drug or alcohol abuse, and adolescent pregnancy?
  • Except for three pregnant teens and several teens in loud groups, there were no evident signs of social problems in the community.

Attitude toward healthcare

• Do you observe any evidence of folk medicine practice, such as a botanical or herbal medicine shop? Are there any alternative medicine practitioners?
  • Only some herbal medicine shops are seen close to pharmacies. No other signs of alternative health care.
• Do you observe that health resources are well utilized or underutilized?
  • All medical centers were clean, needed no repair, well-utilized.
• Is there evidence of preventive or wellness care?
  • Except for massage offices, gyms, and wellness clinics, no signs of wellness or preventive care were observed.
• Do you observe any efforts to improve the neighborhood’s health? Planned health fairs? Do you see advertisements for health-related events, clinics, or lectures?
  • There were some health care facilities ads at bus stops and posters informing of lectures on health improvement. The effort to improve the neighborhood is insignificant, although some steps to eliminate health risks are taken.

Vulnerable population

Homeless and obese people and pregnant women (including teens) are perceived as vulnerable populations (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016). Ethnic minorities are potentially vulnerable due to language gaps and discrimination risks (Gill, Wright, & Brew, 2014).

Conclusion

Although the overall impression is positive, there are several potential community health challenges. For instance, language barriers may limit access to professional care. Discrimination is associated with impaired health outcomes. Because of mosquitos and flies, the risks of infections are significant. Finally, even though no evident signs point to it, there are potential miscarriage and infant death risks because there were many pregnant women seen (Nies & McEwen, 2014).

References

Gill, P., Wright, N., & Brew, I. (2014). Working with vulnerable groups: A clinical handbook for GPs. London, England: Royal College of General Practitioners.

Nies, M. A., & McEven, C. (2014). Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.

Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2016). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Stanhope, M., Lancaster, J., Jakubec, S. L., & Pike-MacDonald, S. A. (2017). Community health nursing in Canada (3rd ed.). Toronto, Canada: Elsevier.