Introduction
Community diagnosis is the assessment of health needs of a given community in aspects such as physical, social, economic, and biological conditions that are present in an environment with a view of finding appropriate solutions to health problems. Community diagnosis is an integral part of community health nursing because it helps the health care system to identify health issues in different communities and provide customized solutions.
Given that health issues that community members face relate with physical, social, economic, and biological conditions, community diagnosis provides a comprehensive understanding of health issues at community level. Community diagnosis normally entails collection of epidemiological information from a certain community and its analysis relative to social, economic, physical, and biological factors to establish if causal relationships exist among different variables. In essence, community diagnosis provides a basis for evidence-based planning and implementation of health interventions. Hence, this essay formulates a community diagnosis of Santa Maria community based on the data collected by community assessment tools
Description of Community
Assessment of the Santa Maria community using a cultural assessment tool indicates that the community has diverse races. Census data indicate that the Santa Maria city has a population of about 100,000 (City of Santa Maria, 2013). The racial composition of the of Santa Maria community is about 56% Whites, 1.8% Native Americans, 1.7% African Americans, 5% Asians, while other races comprise the remaining percentages (Diversity Data, 2013).
This means that the dominant culture in Santa Maria is that of the Whites. Additionally, the age group composition of the Santa Maria community is that about 30% are below the age of 18 years, 42% have the ages of between 18 to 44 years, 15% have the ages of between 45 and 64 years, and 13% have the ages of above 65 years (Diversity Data, 2013). The figures show that the majority of the population comprises the youth and young adults who have the ages of between 18 and 44 years.
The Santa Maria community views aging positively because it takes care of the elderly at home or in the nursing homes. Maria Medical Center, Santa Maria Care Center, Mariah Medical Center, and Villa Maria Healthcare Center are some of the nursing homes that take care of the elderly. Moreover, the Santa Maria community has no rituals associated with coming of age. Since the community has gender balance and is sensitive to it, restrictions do not exist when community members are accessing health care services.
The data in the disaster assessment tool show that the most vulnerable groups in the Santa Maria community to disasters such as earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornados, and storm are children and the elderly. The children and the elderly are vulnerable groups because they are unable to respond to disasters appropriately. Physical inability predisposes the children and the elderly in the Santa Maria community to disasters for they cannot rescue themselves in cases of emergency and disaster.
Given that Santa Maria has diverse races, the vulnerable groups are among Whites, Black Americans, Native Americans, and Asians. Hence, disasters do not have a disproportionate impact on different races in the Santa Maria community. In response to disasters, different races will relocate to safe grounds where they can receive relevant humanitarian aids. Since the dominant disasters are hurricanes, tornados, storms, earthquakes, and fire, the community members may sustain mainly physical injuries.
The disasters affect the vulnerable groups because they interfere with healthcare infrastructure that helps in the management of chronic conditions of the children and the elderly. Among children, chronic conditions such as Diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and asthma require a constant supply of medication, which disasters disrupts. Similarly, among the elderly, chronic conditions such kidney problems, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, and depression require constant therapy and management services, but disasters interfere with the delivery of these services.
The data in the neighborhood inventory tool show that both air and water pollution occurs in the Santa Maria city. Owing to increased utilization of fossil fuels by industries and motor vehicles, combustion engines release carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and carbon dioxide gases. Water pollution also occurs when storm water collects and forms surface runoff, which flow into the Santa Maria River and Pacific Ocean carrying with them pesticides and fertilizers from farms.
Since air and water pollution is minimal, natural radiations such as cosmic radiations, terrestrial radiations, and internal radiations exist at negligible levels that have no significant impact on the health of the community. Noise pollution is also another form of pollution that occurs in the Santa Maria city because of motor vehicles, loud music, and industrial activities. The Santa Maria Community experiences weather hazards such as tornados, hurricanes, and storms, which destroy property and lives. The Santa Maria River and the Pacific Ocean are physical hazards because people can drown in them.
Concerning the spread of infectious diseases, wild pigs are reservoirs of swine flu while stray dogs have the potential of spreading rabies. The city of Santa Maria also has poisonous plants such as poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak, which cause allergic reactions in humans.
The data obtained from the population economic assessment tool indicates that the population of the Santa Maria city is about 100,000. The economic status of the population is average because the mean household income is about $49,000 (United States Census Bureau, 2013). The percentage of the households that are living below the poverty line is approximately 15%, while at the individual level, about 20% of the community members live below the poverty line (City Data, 2013).
Specifically, the youth below 18 years and the elderly above 65 years comprises 26% and 8% respectively of the people living below the poverty line (United States Census Bureau, 2013). Examination of the racial groups indicates that African Americans and Native Americans have a higher proportion of people living below the poverty line than Whites and Asians. Moreover, among different age groups, the young people below the age of 20 years have the highest proportion of people living below the poverty line when compared with other groups.
Additional statistics show that approximately 15% of the families qualify for public assistance, yet only about 10% receive the assistance (Santa Maria City Council, 2011). Since Santa Maria has an unemployment rate of 12% and 2% of the population are homeless (Federal Reserve Bank, 2013).
This shows that a significant number of people are unable to afford health care. From the statistics, about 42% of the employed people benefit from health insurance, the remaining 58% of the employed people access health care services using their own means (County of Santa Barbara, 2013). The dominant healthcare insurance agencies that provide health care benefits are Medicaid and Medicare. Hence, given the figures, it implies that about 60% of the people do not receive health care benefits. Santa Maria normally receives annual public funding from the California Department of Health Services.
Community Genogram
Interpretation of Genogram
The genogram depicts how different health determinants and indicators interact and influence the health status of the Santa Maria community. From the genogram, cultural factors such as attitudes, rituals, customs, and beliefs influence how the community perceives health and aging. Since Santa Maria community has positive attitudes about health care for the elderly, it has increased lifespan of its members. Regarding health indicators of environment, neighborhood assessment shows that pesticides and fertilizers pollute water while exhaust fumes from combustion engines release carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone gases that pollute the air in the Santa Maria city.
Economic factors as health indicators show that household income, unemployment, insurance benefits and health care expenditure cumulatively have a significant impact on the health status of the Santa Maria community. The disaster assessment depicts that Santa Maria is prone to disasters such as hurricanes, storms, tornados, and earthquakes, thus predisposing children and the elderly to serious health complications because they have chronic diseases. Overall, the interaction of cultural factors, environmental factors, economic factors, and disasters in the Santa Maria city determines the health outcomes of the community.
Formulation of Community Diagnosis
Assessment of the Santa Maria community using various tools provides an invaluable data necessary for community diagnosis. From the cultural perspective, the data indicate that Santa Maria community has positive attitudes towards age and aging. The positive attitudes are evident because the community members have increased lifespan. About 15% of the population is above the ages of 65 years (City of Santa Maria, 2013). Disaster assessment portrays that the children and the elderly are groups of people in the population who are very vulnerable to disasters such as hurricanes, storm, tornados, and earthquakes because they are unable to rescue themselves in case of emergency.
Since their physical capacity is limited, the disasters also worsen chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and asthma amongst other conditions associated with the children and elderly. Since disasters disrupt health care infrastructure that is critical for the delivery of health care to the children and the elderly, they increase morbidity and mortality rates of the people within the Santa Maria community.
Assessment of the environmental conditions at the Santa Maria community shows that environmental factors are responsible for the health conditions within the community. Storm water usually washes fertilizers and pesticides from farms into the Santa Maria River and eventually into the Pacific Ocean, thus causing serious pollution of water in the Santa Maria environment. Moreover, exhaust fumes from combustion engines cause air pollution as they release carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and nitrogen oxide gases, which pose serious lung disorders. Natural radiations in Santa Maria are significant risk factors of cancer and congenital disorders.
The presence of wild pigs and stray dogs increases the risk of swine flu and rabies respectively, for they are deadly infectious diseases. In the aspect of economic assessment, the data collected indicate that low household income, high unemployment rates, lack of insurance benefits, and insufficient health care expenditure form a complex of economic factors that reduce accessibility and affordability of health care services in the Santa Maria community.
Conclusion
Community health nurses play a central role in conducting community diagnosis to define health problems and formulate their solutions. Community diagnosis of the Santa Maria community depicts that disasters, environmental pollution, economic factors, and cultural factors are health indicators that determine health status of the population. Thus, the health care system should improve the health status of the Santa Maria community by developing and implementing appropriate interventions. The necessary interventions are enhancement of disaster management, encouraging positive cultural values, alleviating environmental pollution, improving the economic status of the population, and developing policies that support delivery of health care services.
References
City Data (2013). Santa Maria, California. Web.
City of Santa Maria (2013). Demographics. Web.
County of Santa Barbara (2013). Public Health Fiscal Services. Web.
Diversity Data (2013). Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA. Web.
Federal Reserve Bank (2013). Unemployment Rate in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA. Web.
Santa Maria City Council (2011). Amended Annual Action Plan Fiscal Year 2011-12. Web.
United States Census Bureau (2013). State and County Quick Facts. Web.