Introduction
Ridgewood-Hill Forest is one of the neighborhood of New York City (NYC). It is situated between NYC and Queens. According to DeSena (2019), Ridgewood has 69,317 residents, which consists of Hispanic, white, Asian, and blacks. Most of the inhabitants living in this area are youths and middle-aged adults (DeSena, 2019). Poverty has been identified as a key determinant of health in Ridgewood and NYC. The level of poverty is low in Ridgewood compared to NYC. Therefore, housing conditions, air quality, poverty and level of education are some of the main determinants of health and should be solved through raising public awareness and providing social and economic support.
A Summary of Neighborhood Health Data
Asthma and Environment
Asthma is caused by environmental factors leading to health issues. At Ridgewood, asthma emergency department visits among children are 88.5 per 10,000 residents and 40.5 per 10,000 residents among the adult population. Based on indoor air quality, 11% of the homes at Ridgewood had cockroaches in 2017 (NYC Health, 2021). In addition, 36% of adults at Ridgewood allow smoking in their homes, worsening asthma symptoms. The health burden caused by ozone has contributed to emergency visit rates of 43.3 and 18.4 per 100,000 people among children and adults, respectively (NYC Health, 2021). Thus, the Ridgewood environment plays a role in the cases of asthma reported in the area.
Climate and Health
Climate change is the main health threat affecting humanity across the globe. Based on climate, about 5.5% of Ridgewood was located in hurricane evacuation zones in 2013. In 2017, 45% of Ridgewood had a vegetative cover, such as trees, while homes close to structures termed good or excellent are about 94.0% (NYC Health, 2021). Additionally, between 2008 to 2012, 12.4% of the people in Ridgewood were living below the federal poverty level. In addition, heat stress and asthma emergency visits were low and high, respectively. The rate of heat stress emergency visits was 1.9 in 2014, and that of asthma emergency visits among children aged was 88.5 per 100,000 residents in 2016 (NYC Health, 2021). Thus, the climate is one of the main determinants of health affecting the two areas.
Community Health Profiles
Community health profiles help determine how health varies at Ridgewood. Higher education levels are linked with better health outcomes. At Ridgewood, 14% of elementary school students miss schools (NYC Health, 2021). A third of adults living in this area have a college degree, while 16% have not completed high school. Living in poverty limits healthy options and makes it challenging to access quality healthcare. In Ridgewood, 19% of residents live in poverty and cannot afford basic needs (NYC Health, 2021). However, unemployment is not an issue at Ridgewood because it stands at 6% (NYC Health, 2021). As a result, level of education and poverty affects people’s ability to engage on behaviors that promote good health.
Housing and Health
Housing conditions that can affect health at Ridgewood are air quality, home safety, and social factors. One of the aspects that affect air quality at Ridgewood is smoking at home and the presence of cockroaches and mice. About 9.6% of people living in this area report the existence of rats and 11.0% report cockroaches’ presence in their homes (NYC Health, 2021). Also, 36.0% of adults living in this area smoke in their homes. Home safety issues that affect people’s health include homes reporting the use of air conditioning and the state of the houses. About 94% of individuals reported using air conditioning at their homes in 2017 (NYC Health, 2021). Most homes are reported to have health-based maintenance issues.
Outdoor Air and Health
The quality of outdoor air at Ridgewood impacts the health of residents and the neighborhood. The presence of ozone in this area during summer in 2019 was 31.3 ppb. This explains why approximately 5.3% of the deaths of residents were caused by cardiac and respiratory issues (NYC Health, 2021). Moreover, the emissions from vehicles is one of the factors affecting the quality of outdoor air. Drawing from NYC Health (2012), all the vehicles travelled a total of 27.4 million miles at Ridgewood-Forest Hills. Heating fuels emissions of sulphur dioxide is 1.3 tons in the area (NYC Health, 2021). Thus, human activities such as heating fuels and driving have continued to affect the quality of care in the area.
Comparison of Ridgewood’s Health Data to NYC
There are similarities and differences in the health data of Ridgewood and NYC. The two areas have almost the same composition of ozone in the air, increasing asthma risk. This is the same in situations such as outdoor air quality. For example, fine particle in the air was 6.6 in the two regions in 2017 (NYC Health, 2021). However, there are various noticeable differences in the health data in the two areas. For example, NYC has a higher number of children living in poverty compared to Ridgewood. 13.0% of children under five years living in poverty in Ridgewood compared to 26.5% in NYC (NYC Health, 2021). In addition, NYC releases more sulphur dioxide in the air compared to Ridgewood. Therefore, the health data shows that NYC has more impact on health of residents compared to Ridgewood.
Potential Determinants of Health Outcomes
The determinants of health that affect health outcome in NYC and Ridgewood are level of poverty, housing conditions and environmental factors. Poverty is the primary determinants of health because its impact on an individual’s ability to access healthcare (Pinto & Bloch, 2017). For instance, 19.6% of people are living in poverty in NYC compared to 12.2% in Ridgewood (NYC Health, 2021). In addition, people are less likely to get asthma in NYC than in Ridgewood because of housing conditions. More adults allow smoking in their homes at Ridgewood than adults in NYC.
Potential Interventions for Addressing Health Outcomes
The intervention that can be applied is creating awareness at an individual level, community level, and policy level. Creating awareness involves informing and educating people on an issue to change their behavior (Kruize et al., 2019). At individual level, every household should be informed about the impact of smoking within the house. They should be informed that engaging in the behavior exposes their family to respiratory issues. At community level, social workers should take the initiative of educating the communities on the impact of smoking (Cecchi et al., 2018). At a policy level, leaders should develop policy to prevent people from smoking anywhere other than the designated smoking zones. Thus, the aim is to eliminate the behavior of individuals smoking in their homes.
The other intervention is providing social and economic support, especially to individuals who are economically disadvantaged. At an individual level, needy people should be identified and supported by giving enrolling in an insurance scheme (Ginter et al., 2018). At community level, establish free clinics in the area where people can access healthcare services. This is important because it ensures that everyone has access to healthcare regardless of their financial status (Ginter et al., 2018). At a policy level, leaders should come up with a police supporting equal distribution of resources in the area. Therefore, the strategy is integral because every resident in the area regardless of their race, gender and age will be able to access healthcare services.
Conclusion
The health data of NYC and Ridgewood raises important concerns that should be addressed to promote health. The determinants of health in the two areas are housing conditions, air quality and high level of poverty. These factors affect an individual’s ability to access health care. For instance, poverty means that individuals lack adequate resources to seek healthcare services. As a result, these factors can be addressed through social and economic support and conducting awareness.
References
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DeSena, J. N. (2019). The Polish Community of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Then and Now: A View from the Street. Polish American Studies, 76(1), 29-38.
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NYC Health. (2021). Environment & Health Data Portal. NYC Health. Web.
Pinto, A. D., & Bloch, G. (2017). Framework for building primary care capacity to address the social determinants of health. Canadian Family Physician, 63(11), 476-482. Web.