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This windshield survey is a simple observation of a community. It involves collection of data to help define the community, the trend within the community, stability of the community and changes that may define the health of the community. Many dimensions of the community can be observed from a car drive observing the community life, and environment. Common characteristics to be noted are the people walking the street, gathering places in the community, quality of houses, community life rhythm, and geographic boundaries (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p. 409-410).
Community is defined widely by (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) community is a group of people, living in a specific geographical area. They may share a common culture, norms and values. Members of the community gain their social and personal identity by sharing their common beliefs, norms and values which has been developed by the community (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p. 397). Community health is the meeting of the community collective needs by identification of the community problems, managing the behaviors in the community and between the larger society and community (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p. 401).
The community partnerships helps to bring about the changes necessary to fulfill the vision of Healthy People 2020. A foundation is provided by Healthy People 2020 for national health promotion and disease prevention.
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It is necessary to have community partnerships in order for the lay community members to have vested interest in the community success to improve the community health Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p 402). Community as client is the community as the nurse client.
The community is only the client when the focus of the nurse is on the common or collective good of the community instead of the health of one individual (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p. 398). The community chosen for this windshield survey is the city I currently reside in, Virginia Beach. It is located in the state of Virginia and a part of the Hampton roads. Hampton Roads consist of seven cities which are Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk and Portsmouth. In my city of Virginia Beach I live in the Ocean Front Community.
We have a large military community related to the Naval Base Oceana Naval Air Weapon station. Virginia Beach is 249.02 square miles and the persons per square miles are 1,758.9. The population estimate in 2013 is 48,479. Persons under 5 years of age is 6.7%. The percentage of Persons under 18 years of age is 23.1%. Persons 65 years of age or older is 11.8%. Female percentage is 50.9%. The percentage of Whites alone is 68.9%, Blacks are 20.0%, Alaska native and American Indian 0.5%, Asians 6.6%, Native Hawaiian and other pacific Islander is 0.2%, persons with two or more races is 3.9% and Hispanics are 7.5%. Persons residing in the same home greater than a year is 82.2% of the population. High school graduates or person with a higher education makes up 93.6%. The veteran population for 2009-2013 is 61,100. The median value of homes are $267,600 with 2.62 persons per household. The median household income is $65,219. Persons living below the poverty level is 7.9% (United States Census Bureau. n.d.). Virginia Beach is located alongside the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Chesapeake Bay to the north.
The average elevation of the city is 12 feet ( VB GeoFacts and Information, n.d.). VB GeoFacts and Information. (n.d.). The homes in the community are mostly two story homes colonial style, or brick and aluminum side homes and one story homes. Homes in the community are well kept with manicured lawns. There are some condominiums and apartments in the area. There is no signs of abandoned buildings in the areas observed for the windshield survey. Virginia Beach is known for its tourism especially in the summer months. Not many pedestrians were noted walking along the street in the community during the current winter month. Joggers were noted early morning and evenings in the ocean front area of the community. Public transportation available in the city of Virginia Beach are buses and taxi cabs. There is no light rail system or train system that provides transportation. There are numerous attractions such as the aquarium, the botanical garden, the boardwalk, ocean breeze Water Park. There are many open body of water around in the community for fishing besides the Atlantic Ocean.
There are two malls located in the community Pembroke mall and Lynnhaven Mall. Many restaurants are available with a healthy choices. Only five fast food restaurants were noted on an 8 mile drive. There was 3 ABC stores noted selling liquor, and 2 Totally Wine stores noted. There are two super Walmart stores, one regular Walmart, and a Walmart Neighborhood. Food Lion and Farm Fresh are the other main grocery stores. Farm fresh provides a fresh salad bar daily. There are many Consumer Value Stores (CVS) with 24 hours pharmacy available. Patient First is chain of urgent care facilities available within the community. They are open 7 days a week until 10pm. Sentara is the name of the group of hospitals in the community.
There are many doctor offices, dentist office and other medical specialties available in the community. The schools average rating is 6 out of 10. Virginia Beach schools have many academic programs such as the Global studies & World language, health sciences Academy, Legal Studies, Technology, Visual & Performing Arts, International Baccalaureate program and mathematics & Science for high school students. Middle school children has advance academic programs available such as the middle years International Baccalaureate program (About Us, n.d). The community provides parks and recreation centers. There are numerous trails for outdoor hiking, sporting leagues for children and adults and fitness and wellness. There are a number of religions noted in the community catholic, united Methodist, southern Baptist and Jewish.
The Healthy people 2020 health indicator chosen for this community is the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Per Healthy People 2020 there is an estimated 19 million new sexually transmitted disease cases each year in the United States (Healthypeople.gov, n.d). Hampton roads area has a higher average of sexually transmitted disease, this eastern region had the highest rates in the state for gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia. State statistics showed in the region there were 2,620 girls’ ages 3 to 19 diagnosed with chlamydia comparing to 528 boys in the same age range. A study completed showed the rate of STD was much higher among blacks girls compared with 20 among the white race and Hispanic girls. The CDC has a difficult time comparing the statistics to Virginia reported figures because the health care providers are not required to report Herpes, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and trichomoniasis to the local health department. This causes the state numbers to be less than reality. Another barrier that prevents the actual numbers is many people infected with STDs may not exhibit symptoms. Meaning STD is transmitted from one person to the other without realizing transmission of the disease.
There is an estimate of 70 to 80 percent of girls with chlamydia with no symptoms. Untreated these STDs causes infertility. HPV is another infection that often does not manifest symptoms. Virginia has a new law in place requiring sixth grade girls to receive HPV vaccines unless they opt out (Simpson, 2008). Virginia Beach Department of Public of Health clinic provides free, confidential education, counseling and testing for HIV. They provide Nurses and health counselors at their Virginia Beach clinic for clients found to be HIV positive. The clinic operates on a walk in basis for testing. They offer services for the patients to contact other sexual partners that may need testing and treatment (Clinic, n.d.). Virginia Beach does not have a large immigration population with many ethnicities. There are however many resources available to address different cultures within our community. Yearly the city has a Latin festival and reggae festival. I do not encounter many people of different cultures from Latin countries or Caribbean countries in the community. It is mostly whites or blacks, there is very minimal encounters with other races.
It can present a problem in the community if there should be a rise in a specific ethnicities from a different parts of the world such as Africa, or Asia. Nurses and other health care providers would definitely need conferences on cultural diversity. The most I have been exposed to diversity is while working as charge nurse for a correctional facility for the Common Wealth of Virginia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held many immigrants there for a period of time at correctional facility. Aspects of the community that can affect residents’ health were not visible to myself from a windshield point of view. Virginia Beach government website gave more insight on the aspects that affect residents in the community.
Three aspects listed are teenage pregnancies, low birth weight babies and child abuse. In conclusion Virginia Beach is a wonderful community. It is not congested, we have large areas that still trees, wild animals and fishing areas. It is a family oriented community in my opinion with many resources within the community to meet the needs of individuals. Crime is at minimal, the people in the community are genuinely polite, and there are many programs in the community provided by the city or YMCA promoting health and wellness.
About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.vbschools.com/root/aboutus.asp
CIty of Virginia Beach Community Indicators. (2011, September 1). Retrieved February 8, 2015, from
Community Health Assessment Through Windshield Survey. (2016, Sep 11). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/re-windshield-survey-essay
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