One of the social factors that might impact what groceries are purchased is the lack of healthy food. Addressing Wal-Mart in Forest Part allows me to gather enough information about available products and their prices. For example, one gallon of great value milk is $2.65, one loaf of Sara Lee bread is $2.44, one bag of gala apples is $3.58, and one bag of organic baby carrots is $3.88. Continuing my visit, the prices are as follows: one yogurt container is $1.92, 2-liter of Pepsi Soda is $1.98, one bag of chips is $2.84, and one family-size pack of cookies is $3.98. In Maywood, IL 60153, the population is mostly African Americans (68.6%), but white citizens (18.2%) and Hispanic/Latino (26.9%) also live there (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). The chosen living area lacks good grocery stores, but the number of fast-food restaurants has significantly increased during the last few years. It means that people are not able to buy healthy food but have to eat poor-quality products, contributing to their health problems like hypertension and diabetes.
Another social factor that affects human health and shopping habits is poor transformation and the impossibility for the working class to visit Wal-Mart regularly. The median household income in the chosen region is about $50,176, and the poverty level is about 15% (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). It means that not all individuals can go to the stores with good food and make decisions, not at the expense of their health. The combination of transportation, low income, and food factors are critical for public health (Islam, 2019). It is not enough to identify a problem but find ways to solve it and help the population achieve improvements.
A community health nurse (CHN) is responsible for promoting public health and the choice of interventions to address food security. According to Schffer and Strohschein (2019), there are 17 interventions introduced in five groups with different colors, and collaboration is a unique opportunity for all community members to promote and protect health. The main characteristics of this intervention are a high commitment level, partnership, and goal orientation (Schffer & Strohschein, 2019). Collaboration at systems levels helps CHNs reach all appropriate stakeholders, community collaboration is necessary to analyze the current state of affairs, and cooperation with families improves personal knowledge and engagement.
References
Islam, M. M. (2019). Social determinants of health and related inequalities: confusion and implications. Frontiers in Public Health, 7.
Schffer, M., & Strohschein, S. (2019). Public health interventions: Applications for public health nursing practice (2nd ed.). Minnesota Department of Health.
United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Quick facts: Maywood village, Illinois; United States. Census.