Sentinel City
During my virtual tour of Sentinel City, the first tool I used was the Assessment Windshield Survey provided to get a good picture of the neighborhood. Some buildings I noticed were covered in graffiti as well as scattered garbage, which was most prevalent in the Casper Park district. Buildings were mostly constructed from brick or stone as well apartment buildings. I did not notice any single-family homes during my tour.
The communities were a mix of rural and urban with little community areas, and little green space. There were signs noted dividing the different neighborhoods. Common hangouts appeared to be the community park where people were noted to be playing basketball and tennis. There were a lot of homeless people hanging out around the soup kitchen and Interfaith Church.
Transportation for all 4 neighborhoods include public transportation, bicycling, walking and personal car. The streets appeared to be in good repair in most neighborhoods, and people were riding their bicycles on the street. After speaking to a resident who is wheelchair bound, she states she is unable to ride the bus due to the buses not being wheelchair accessible. Another aging resident who is losing her eye site is concerned about public transportation after she is no longer able to drive due to limited bus stops and irregularity of the bus routes in her neighborhood.
There is a mixture of religion in the communities. The Interfaith Church is a catholic based church, that offers several services to the residents. It provides several support groups as well as the Soup Kitchen to help feed homeless people in need. Several people were noted to be hanging around the church and soup kitchen.
The overall health population didn’t appear to be great. Little of the people interviewed had a regular exercise program, as well good eating habits. A few people interviewed were homeless and used alcohol and tobacco on a regular basis as well as marijuana on occasion. It seems there is a lot of undiagnosed mental illness including depression. There was only 1 hospital noted as well as 1 health clinic that provides screenings and contraception. No urgent care facilities were found during the tour, however, there were several dental offices throughout the community.
There are little shopping facilities throughout the community. There was Bodega supermarket located in Industrial Heights, which is a convenience store and appears to have higher priced items. Joes Grocery is in Nightingale Square and has people loitering around the front entrance as well as stray animals roaming around. People from Acer Tech Center and Casper Park district would have to travel to other neighborhood for everyday items and needs. Only 1 restaurant was noted called Lilly’s, and it appears to have rodents as well bad food violations. Again, people would need to travel to other communities to have better restaurant choices.
According to the demographic assessment tool the population of Sentinel city is 663,862 with much of the population being white at 80.6%. The median household income is $246,000 with 18.9% living below the poverty line. The richer of the communities was Nightingale Square, with the poorest community being Industrial Heights. Industrial Heights was highest among uninsured residents.
The Neighborhood/Safety Assessment was a good tool to help recognize the safety hazards which were stray animals, garbage, graffiti, a burning car, and air smoke pollution from nearby factories. Other health and safety risks found were the rate of alcohol and tobacco use, as well a high rate of Hydrocodone use among residents. The city hall records of crime showed the top crimes committed were rape, robbery and aggerated assault. There is gang violence that accounts for a high crime rate of aggravated assault of 24%. Other crimes reported were drug use at 16%, trespassing at 31%, littering at 11% and prostitution at 9%.
The Scavenger Hunt helped me find out information about the available community resources. The park was noted to be in use with people playing basketball and tennis, however people had complaints about homeless people loitering as well as uncleanliness. The healthcare system for the elderly includes senior transportation, service animals, meals on wheels, elder abuse prevention, community centers, medical care associates as well as independent senior apartment, nursing homes, and assisted living. City hall and social services offer services such as protective services, healthcare including free and income-based insurance, WIC and SNAP programs for people who qualify. The Better Health Clinic is an important resource for the community because it provided contraception, counseling, STD testing and screenings. The Interfaith Church provides a Soup Kitchen service to homeless people in need of a hot meal.
Adults are the highest rate of being homeless at 64%. There is an Affordable Housing Project in which the building looks clean on the outside, however there are complaints from residents of stray dogs, smoke from nearby factories, police, sirens and noise as well as loitering.
The first problem that stood out in Sentinel City was the need to improve environmental health due to the smog produced from factories, car emissions and public smoking. According to Healthy People 2020 the goal is to “promote health for all through a healthy environment”. Poor air quality can contribute to developing cancers, cardiac issues, respiratory as well as other illnesses. Poor water quality can lead to issues with gastrointestinal, neurological and development of cancer. Some chemicals can contribute to acute poisonings and other toxic effects with adults and children. It would ideal to help promote bicycling as a primary mode of transportation to help reduce vehicle emissions and would help increase physical activity.
Installing safe bicycle lanes would be a priority for the city as none was noted throughout the tour. Development of a strict no public smoking policy should be in place, as well as a support system to help smokers quit who would wish to do so.
A second issued noted among the community was a high number of undiagnosed mental health issues as well as substance abuse. People with untreated mental health disorders are at higher risk for unhealthy and unsafe behaviors, including alcohol or drug abuse, violence, self- abuse and suicide. The Healthy People 2020 Goal for mental health is “improve mental health through prevention and by ensuring access to appropriate, quality mental health services”.
Offering a place for people to meet for group discussions, as well as opening a mental health clinic would be beneficial for the residents. Education children and adolescents in school as well as offering counseling would be a great benefit for the younger population.
The third issue to be addressed for Sentinel City is a lack of areas for physical activity. According to Healthy People 2020, the goal for physical activity is to “improve health, fitness, and quality of life through daily physical activity”. There were limited parks noted throughout the community, and residents had complaints about litter and loitering in the current available public areas. The current park was limited to a tennis and basketball court Adding cleaner, safer parks and recreational areas with a walking path would be beneficial for the community.
The Sentinel City community has resources in place for instance the Better Health Clinic, this site could be used to help treat mental disorders, depression and substance abuse based on income. People in the community who face these challenges appear to be below poverty or homeless. A good prevention topic on resources for mental health and substance abuse prevention would be better on billboards throughout the community as well as advertisement on the radio station. Flyers could be posted in more rural areas advertising the services as well as numbers to suicide hotlines and substance preventions hotlines. The Interfaith Church could also offer some advertising among the people who use to soup kitchen.
The assessment skills I have learned from this activity will help me in my own community. As I do not live in a busy city, but a more rural community, I can now help identify the people in the community that would benefit from more usable resources like more public transportation, increased health clinics/facilities, support groups and homeless shelters as well as places to receive hot meals.
References:
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Healthy People 2020 (2014). Information obtained on January 11, 2019 from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics- objectives
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Question 
Assignment Instructions
Enter Sentinel City® and get on the virtual bus. Since this is your first tour, select the slowest
speed and stay on the bus the entire time.
Sentinel City
Learners will survey the suburban neighborhood of Lake View.
As you take the tour, write down your observations, specifically those that align with the
following demographics and/or subsystems.
Describe the characteristics of the people you see in the Lake View Suburb.
What is the race/ethnicity distribution, age ranges, and gender mix?
Are there signs of poverty or wealth? What are they?
Is the area well maintained or in disrepair?
Who do you see on the streets? Parent with a child, teens, couples, disabled persons?
Is there anyone in the suburb you would not expect to see?
Are there homeless persons, beggars, etc.?
Are the dogs on or off-leash? Are there other animals?
What are stores (grocery, retail, drug, dry cleaning, etc.) in the area?
How do residents travel?
What services are available in the community – health care, social services, schools,
employment offices, etc.?
What types of occupations are evident?
Are there churches, and what are their denominations?
Select a target population of interest and discuss relevant demographic data and health status
indicators for this population group.
Identify significant health concerns for this target population. Include a discussion of significant
health concerns in relation to a global health issue.
Apply Healthy People 2030 objectives to the identified population health concerns.
You are encouraged to add other relevant characteristics you observe.
After your tour is complete, compile your observations and present the information, with at
least two scholarly references, addressing each item listed above.
Use correct APA format when citing your references that support your rationale
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