Caring for Populations Milestone 2
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR443: Community Health Nursing
01/29/2016

Caring for Populations Milestone 2 The prosperity of a community stems from its dynamics which include health, safety, business, and social integration. The community that I would like to discuss is the Briarwood neighborhood from Queens, New York. This community flourishes as an urban setting but still expresses its connection to mother nature with its very own botanical gardens and public parks. The parks provide not only recreational activities for the community but a moment of serenity from the everyday ruckus of the urban lifestyle. I will be assessing the community based on the demographic and epidemiological data that is gathered from the United States Census Bureau.
Community Overview Briarwood, Queens is located in New York state and has an urban environment. It is well populated with small businesses, banks, restaurants, and medical facilities. There are numerous educational facilities such as: private and public schools, and public libraries. The neighborhood has a well-established public commuting service run by the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority); residents have access to the subway, as well as busses. The community is diverse in culture and race, with residents from many different regions of the world. The residential area of Briarwood is comprised of building complexes, as well as private housing units. Overall, the Briarwood community is a well flourishing middle class community that is economically stable.

Demographic Data There is no specific information found on the Briarwood community of Queens in the U.S. Census Bureau, so I will be reporting information on Queens county instead. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Queens county has an estimated population of 2.3 million residents as of July 2014, whereas the national data for the U.S. is approximately 318 million. Queens’ female population averages to 51.5% and the national being at 50.1%. In Queens county there are about 780,000 households with approximately 2.89 persons per household, with the median household annual income at about $57,000. On a national level there are about 116 million households with 2.63 persons per household, the median household annual income being at about $53,000. 80.4% of Queens residents are high school graduates with 30.2% having a Bachelor’s degree or higher, on a national level the high school graduation rate is at 86.3% and 26.3% of Americans have a Bachelor’s degree. The current poverty rate is 15.4% in Queens and is 14.8% on a national rate.

Epidemiological Data According to countyhealthrankings.org, the mortality rate for persons deceased before the age of seventy-five, is approximately 4,600 per 100,000, with the average being 5,200 nationally. Queens county’s morbidity rate for STDs are 562 persons per every 100,000 placing it well above the national rate of 138 per 100,000 persons. The teen birth rate in Queens is 23 per every 1,000 females and the national average is 20. The obesity rate in Queens is 24% which is considered to be on the high end due to the national rate being 25%. Some other health concerns for Queens include the social and economic factors. Queens has a high violent crime rate of 663 per 100,000 persons, this is way higher than the national rate of 59 per 100,000 and also higher in comparison to New York State which is 400. 33% of children in Queens are raised in single-parent households, and at a national rate is at 20%. All of the epidemiological data was received from countyhealthrankings.org.

Windshield Survey As I previously mentioned in the windshield survey, the community of Briarwood is a well-rounded community with a wealth of resources, especially in the area of health and social well-being. The environment is well-developed with regards to the housing conditions and the roads. Additionally, health resources are readily accessible, ranging from private offices to clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and wellness centers. Through my observation of the community, I was able to identify a social problem which may impede the development of the community. There is a corner deli store which is open through the late hours of the night, and it seems as though there is illicit use of drugs in that particular area. I have noticed that people loiter in that area and after asking some fellow neighbors what their thoughts are on the activities at the deli, I found that they shared my suspicions.

Problem Diagnosis Based on the demographic and epidemiological information that I have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau and countyhealthrankings.org, I have come to identify that a major community health nursing problem in Queens county is the high incidence rate of sexually transmitted diseases. The HealthyPeople2020 objective that I would like to focus on is the STD-10 objective is to, “Reduce the proportion of young adults with genital herpes infection due to herpes simplex type 2” (HealthyPeople.gov).
The goal of the objective is to reduce the baseline percentage of 10.5% from 2005-08 to 9.5% by the year 2020. Since the HP2020 objective focused on the youth, I have decided to research health article pertaining to STD’s and STI’s pertaining to the youth population. According to an article written by Friedman et al. (2003), there is a strong correlation between the use of illicit drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and other injection drugs, and sexually transmitted diseases. The study conducted in the article was focused in New York City, therefore it is highly relevant to Queens County, New York. The study found that the use of ‘harder’ drugs (i.e. injection drugs such as heroine) is strongly associated with higher incidence rates of Hepatitis C and HIV.
An additional article by Bonar et al. (2015), states that one in ten sexually active youth in the emergency room reported a prior diagnosed sexually transmitted infection. The incidence rate was significantly higher in females than males. It is suggested that the incidence rate or reported sexually transmitted infections can be reduced via improvement in early screenings of STIs by the providers in the emergency room. Additionally, the incidence rate can be reduced if the emergency room providers inquire about condom use and previous STI incidences among males and females.
Summary
Based on the findings, my assessment of Queens count, New York, has lead me to identify the priority community health diagnosis as high incidence rate of sexually transmitted diseases. As indicated by the county health ranking website, there is an incidence rate of 562 reported STI’s per every 100,000 residents of Queens county. This value proves to be high on the state and national level. Based on the windshield observation, I have come to the realization that the high incidence rates of sexually transmitted infections may have correlation to illicit drug use. * Summary: Summarize your community assessment and diagnosis findings and include a brief statement about the problem and the major factors that contribute to this problem. This information should be no more than two paragraphs. * Reference Page: All references should be cited within the paper and should be included on the reference page.

References Erin E. Bonar, Maureen A. Walton, Martina T. Caldwell, Lauren K. Whiteside, Kristen L. Barry, Rebecca M. Cunningham, Sexually Transmitted Infection History among Adolescents Presenting to the Emergency Department, The Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 49, Issue 5, November 2015, Pages 613-622, ISSN 0736-4679, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2015.02.017. www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/00,36081 www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/newyork/2015/rankings/queens/county/factors/overall/snapshot Friedman, S. R., Flom, P. L., Kottiri, B. J., Zenilman, J., Curtis, R., Neaigus, A., & ... Des Jarlais, D. C. (2003). Drug use patterns and infection with sexually transmissible agents among young adults in a high-risk neighbourhood in New York City. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 98(2), 159-169.