Community Health

Community Health:
Inequalities are bad for your health
University of Missouri – St Louis
College of Nursing

Community Health: Inequalities are bad for your health

Reactions to the DVD Clip Why does your zip code affect your health? This question and many arise as we continue to watch this mini-series regarding health disparities that exist right here in the United States. It brings to light a twist on not only the health of an individual, but goes deeper to explore the main causes as to why people in certain areas are more unhealthy. Stocked full of information, and statistics this part of the mini-series compares two communities and the advantages as well as the disadvantages they have right inside their community. This video brings an acknowledgement of the fact that where you live does have an impact on your health. I believe that every aspect of the community and environment you grow up in has an impact on your life as a child and follow up into adulthood.
Poverty Tax Poverty Tax is when a business charges a premium over the standard price for an item to a captive market, namely the poor who lack the convenient means to go elsewhere. For example the check cashing places can up to 10% to cash a check, and the interest rate on payday loans is astronomical. The lending institutes set a high standard, and they do not want to take a risk on this group of people.
Once communities start to go downhill, nobody wants to actually invest in the community, so the banks don’t want to come in, the shops don’t want to come in, and then you don’t have a commercial base. You don’t have the community taxes that can then feed into the schools. (Kubzansky, 2008) Now that the community does not have good schools families do not want to reside in the community, so more and more families move out of the community to raise their children elsewhere. The cycle keeps duplicating itself until somewhere someone is willing to change it. The community we selected for our project is Clayton-Tamm. During the window assessment we noticed the lack of grocery stores, or places to buy food within the community, or even around the community. Clayton-Tamm also has an over abundance of boarded up buildings that lead me to believe that businesses that once stood there were no longer able to make it within the community. The sidewalks are in disrepair, the houses are run down, and the neighborhood has a glum dirty feel to it.
Health Trends According to DIez-Roux affluent communities have a lot of advantages due to the fact that they have a lot of environmental support. Environmental support as in better water quality, better sewer districts, and better trash collection. She also suggests that policies or the absence of policies create this inequality. The policies within the communities dictate what is paid for. As maps are analyzed and placed on top of each other trends start to emerge. There trends that lead us to believe that environmental hazardous communities are at a higher risk for health disparities. Diez-Roux transposed the maps on top of each other and the overlap was right on target.
Heart Disease Due to the community Gwai lives in, his choices are limited to what is accessible to him. He resides in a community that has lots of problems and is not conducive to new businesses becoming established within the community. This gentleman’s community does not have a grocery store, or access to healthy foods. Fast food joints, quick marts, and liquor stores are readily available. These establishments that are readily available are not the healthiest choice, but the choices of Mr. Gwai are limited by the environment he resides in.
Health Advantages Residents of wealthier neighbors enjoy quality housing, clean parks, safe streets and sidewalks, and access to good healthy food, and healthcare within the community. Wealthier neighborhoods also have better access to amenities such as libraries, childcare, community

Show More

Related Documents: Community Health

Advancing Equity In Clinical Preventive Services