Demographic Characteristics of a Community Influence on Health Problems Paper
Demographic data: Obtain a range information about the demographic characteristics of the population for your city or county of residence. You may have to look at county data if your city is not listed. Discuss demographic data about age, ethnicity, poverty levels, housing, and education.
The demographic data shows that Leavenworth has a population of 35,251. People under 18 account for 25.5 % of the population and 15.6% are over 65 years old. Most residents between the age of 35-54. We have 12,474 households with an average of 2.59 persons per household. The city has almost 7 thousand veterans living here. Foreign-born residents are 3.7% and I think military marriages are the biggest reason for this. Blacks count for 16.5%, Asian 2.2%, and Hispanics 9.2% of the city’s population. Biracial couples count for 5.4 %. Over half of the residents own and live in their home with 52.3 percent and the median home cost is $117,000. The median gross rent is $942. We have 14.6 of our residents that live in poverty, the largest groups rating from age 18-24 and 75 years and older. The group most poverty-stricken are caucasian. Census shows that the total civilian workforce over 16 years old is 52.7% with an average annual income of 63,989 dollars. The average travel time from home to work is only 17 minutes. Residents with a high school degree are at 92.3 %, 32 % have a bachelors degree and 15.6% have a graduate degree. It also shows that people without health insurance under the age of 65 is at 7.1% and 13.8 of our residents under 65 have a disability.
Epidemiological data: report epidemiological data about one priority health problem in your area. Examples include diabetes, heart disease, addiction, obesity, teen pregnancy, and more. Be sure that you accurately report how each statistic is measured. In the County Health Rankings site, you can hover over the category, and it will explain how it is measured.
When I searched on our own Leavenworth County Health Department website for the one priority health problem it showed that the top problems are cancer and heart disease. When I looked down to the list it struck me that in our city we have a suicide rate of 18 percent which is 4 points higher than diabetes. When you look at the data for Kansas as a whole it shows much higher numbers for diabetes and a decrease in suicide.
How do the demographic characteristics of your community influence the health problem you chose?
It is almost no surprise that under the two major demographics in our city, the prison system, and the military, suicide rates are higher than average. Kansas Health in 2018 stated “Leavenworth has the third highest suicide rate in the State. Two very particular situations contribute to this factor. The retiring military is faced with re-entry into a less structured and more uncertain civilian life and those completing their sentencing from one of our prisons are faced with a life outside of prison with the realities of normal life and staying on a straighten arrow.” The data comes from the Kansas State Institute who works with the States’ health department and other government agencies like the VA.
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. (2018). Explore rankings. Retrieved from
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Kansas Health Institute. (2018). Suicide Rates: Disparities in the Sunflower State. KHI, Improving
Health and Prevention. April, 2018.
Leavenworth County Health Department. LCHD. Census 2018. Retrieved from
http://www.leavenworthcounty.org/hd/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). State and county QuickFacts. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
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