Community Health Assessment Report for City of Horizon

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GNH Assignment 2
Community Health Assessment Report
Introduction (200 words)
Social determinants of health are important predictors of health and well-being of a
community. There is strong association between socioeconomic and cultural factors of a community
and range of health outcomes. These factors have an impact on burden of disease and disparities in
health and well-being among diverse segments of the population. Hence, inequalities in terms of
social determinants of health can have significant impact on health services and quality of care.
Health inequity has socioeconomic consequences both on individual and a community and
improving healthy equity is important to enhance benefits for all residents living in a particular
community (Adler et al. 2016). With this context, the main purpose and objective of the paper is to
conduct a community assessment of the city of Horizons and identify one potential health related
issue for the Horizon community. By the assessment of demographic and psychosocial profile,
community infrastructure and health services in the community, the aim is to find links between
health issues and social determinants of health. The report also provides an insight into the roles of
the registered nurse in advocating, mediating and enabling health promotion in the community and
reducing the prevalence of chosen health issues for the Horizon community. The process of
community assessment will also be used to suggest recommendations to improve public health
services.
City of Horizon Community Assessment(1200 words)
1. Demographic Profile
The City of Horizon is situated on the south east coast of South Australia and it has a population of at
least 30, 000 residents. The location of the city is similar to that of Mount Gambier which is located
in Limestone coast of South Australia and has population of 727, 012. The land area of the
community is 4, 248 hectares and population density is about 6.86 persons per hectare. Compared
to area, the population density for Mt Gambier is higher than that for City of Horizon (City of Mount
Gambier 2017). The median age of the Horizon community is 52 years which is higher compared to
South Australia and Australia. The median age also suggest that that the community has lower
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proportion of pre-schoolers and higher proportion of people in post-retirement. The proportion of
young workforce is only 6.7% compared to 28% for parents and older workers (City of Horizon 2018).
Hence, ageing population can have an impact on health care demands. It increases the prevalence of
chronic disease condition in a community and this can pose challenge to future health and social
care too (Beard & Bloom 2015).
The ethnicity and cultural profiles of City of Horizon suggest that the city has strong
commitment to multicultural diversity of its population. This can be said because the community has
cultural center, presence of different religious composition across areas and many ethnic groups
living together in the region. The population of the region comprise people from different ancestry
such as Australian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Greek and many others giving indication of cultural
diversity. In contrast, Mt. Gambier has three large ancestries such as Australian, English and Scottish.
The information related to ancestry gives idea about the total size of cultural groups and cultural
association of the community (City of Mount Gambier 2017). Although Australian born population in
City of Horizon is 85.9%, the population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is 2.3%
(City of Horizon 2018). Having a multicultural environment and strong cultural identity is beneficial
to reduce prevalence of mental illness and reduce incidence of discrimination in a community
(Shepherd et al., 2015).
City of Horizons has more number of females (51.7%) compared to males (48.3%) in 2016.
The household size of families increases based on the stage of relationship formation. Household
size has overall remained stable in the period between 2011 and 2016. The family composition
consist of four types such as lone person, couples without children, one parent families and couples
with children. Cultural and ethnic factors might be the reason for increase in household size. As it is
located in between two major cities of Adelaide and Melbourne, it is a popular tourist destination
(City of Horizon 2018). The family size and location of the community gives idea regarding economic
prosperity and number of earning members in the family.
2. Psychosocial Profile
The percentage of formal qualification as well as population with formal qualification
is higher in the city of horizon compared to that of the Regional SA. While the percentage of
population with formal education in the mentioned city is 36.2 percent, the percentage of
formal education in Regional SA is 34.2 percent (City of Horizon 2018). Besides that, a good
number of individual in the city has vocational qualification. Societies with high percentage
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of educated individuals show lower superstitious activity (Vyse 2013.). In Horizons, 4.5
percent of the individuals earn higher income, while 44.9 percent individuals have lower
income. Moreover the household income level of the mentioned city shows a higher
proportion of low income household. One of the chief reasons behind low income
household is the increased number of retired population in the mentioned city. Income level
has the ability to directly impact the health of a community. People with low income are
found to be suffering of various kinds of diseases and have lower life expectancy (Askita &
Zimmermann 2015). In Horizons majority of office workers travels by private cars. In
contrast to that, in the City of mount Gambier’s, 81.8 percent of the employees work near
their residence. Hence they do not require any transport medium to reach their workplace.
More than 58 percent of the residents avail in internet connection in the Horizon city. In
contrast to that 71.9 percent of the residents of city of Gambier had internet connection in
the year 2016 (City of Mount Gambier 2017). In Horizons, internet is chiefly used for both
domestic as well as non-domestic business purposes. 31.5 percent of the population of the
city uses either dial up connection or do not have any internet connection (City of Horizon
2018). Considering the fact that a majority of individuals of the city uses internet, it can be
understood that the mentioned community is gradually approaching advancement and city
is in its developing stage. When it comes to employment, 93.3 percent of the labours of the
city are employed (City of Horizon 2018). The employment rate of a city is directly
proportional to its economy. The employment rate of Horizon is lower compared to that of
the Regional SA and this has imposed a negative impact on the economy of the mentioned
city.
3. Community Infrastructure, Goods and
Presence of adequate community infrastructures also determines the resource that is
available for health and well-being of a population. When it comes to the city of Gambier, 24.1
percent of the households are comprised of couples, compared to 22.8 percent in the regional SA.
The City of Horizon has many local attractions such as the Horizon Hotel, the newly expanded
Horizon Mall and the range of local cafes and restaurants for the entertainment of residents. It has
good infrastructure for accommodation and catering to tourist too both within coastal areas and
town centres. Apart from this, the community has variety of opportunities for recreation such
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fishing,, hiking, sailing, trail bike riding and winery tours. Presence of such services indicates that
residents of the community lead a physically active and good quality of life. They have good
opportunities for recreation and physical activity. The presence of tourism services also gives idea
regarding source of economic prosperity for the people. The details regarding recreation
opportunities in the community suggest that it has the right source to promote health and social
well-being of residents. According to Thornley et al. (2015), investment in cultural and community
infrastructure is crucial to promote health and economic prosperity in a population group.
Communities that offer strong social capital and opportunities for human development act as the
driver for growth and economic development.
In terms of business, three most popular industry sector found in the City of Horizons
include the health care sector, retail trade and the agricultural, fishery and fishing center. Health
care sector is the most dominant form of business followed by retail trade and agriculture. Large
number of people employed in health and fishing indicates that health care and tourist demand is
high for the region. This is an indication of source of income and economic development in the
region.
4. Health Services and Resources
Compared to any other industries, more city of Horizon residents work in the healthcare
industry. About 15.5 percent of the total population are found to be working in the
healthcare sector. Thus the overall workforce can be considered to be a major resource of
the healthcare industry of the city. Not only that, the number of employees of the
mentioned sector is increasing (City of Horizon 2018). More than 459 employees have
joined the healthcare industry within the time range of 2011 to 2016. Moreover, the
population of the Horizons is an aging population. As a result of this, the number of
healthcare users in the mentioned city is supposed to be much higher compared to the
cities which are not suffering from aging population. Thus it can be understood that one of
the major reason behind the high amount of recruitment in the healthcare sector is the
higher employment opportunities in the mentioned sector (Laursen et al. 2012). However,
the same rational does not stands for Mt. Gambier as the community has more number of
workers engaged in retail trade compared to health and social care sector. This may be due
to difference in population demographics (City of Mount Gambier 2017). The chief healthcare
facilities provided to the citizens as well as the tourists who come to visit the city of Horizon
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