Community Assessment of Indian American Elderly Population in Chicago

This essay discusses the community assessment of Indian American elderly population in Chicago, including their population, race, boundaries, location, and education levels. It also explains the purpose of the assessment and how the information will be collected.

Running head: ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

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Introduction
Culture and heritage is a significant part of the society, these include the traditions,
believes, language, art, literature etc. A community is a group of people with a set of similar
these cultural aspects. For this assignment the community that is going to be discussed is about
the Indian population in United Sates of America. There are several reasons for international
migration, and the trend of migration is usually from the under developed countries to developed
country. India has seen a growth in the economy, however there is significant difference in
between the economic status of the US. Hence, there is a large population of Indian community
in the US. People move to America looking for job as well as better education opportunities
there are also American multinationals in India that move their employees from one country to
another (Ortega & Peri, 2013). These are some of the reason why Indians have over the years
settled away from their country of origin. There are communities that live under the protection of
the visa and immigration laws in America on the other hand there is a community that has
American citizenship (Ortega & Peri, 2013).
1) Describe the population that is being assessed?
There is a large section of Indian population in the United States of America
many of whose ancestors travelled in this land and many of whom themselves travelled
into this country. This section of the people are mainly known as the Indian American
community. This group is the 3rd largest group from the Asian region in the region. There
is often a confusion between the indigenous Indians of America and the Indians who
came from Republic of India, to remove this confusion the term Asian Indian has been
used by the authorities of America (Usa.gov, 2018).

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In this particular case the age of the citizens which is chosen is the elderly
population beyond the age of 65, who are retired from their responsibilities and are
mostly spending their leisure time or in some part time jobs. This constitutes 10 percent
of the total Indian population in the United States Illinois Chicago. The statistics are
similar in the case of the whole of the United States of America (Usa.gov, 2018).
2) What is/are the race(s) of this population within the community?
India is a country that has a wide range of culture, religion, language and
tradition. Judicially the country is secular and accepts all the citizen of the country as
Indians. The population which is chosen in this case is the Asian Indian (Hindu)
community. One of the largest ethnic Asian groups is the Asian Indian Hindu
community. This community is maintaining their own unique identity amidst the problem
of various developments that are mostly aiming at homogenizing the population in the
various countries around the country. There are various identification of the particular
race including the religious principles, rituals, dressing, eating and language. There are
about 1% Hindu Asian Community in the region. About 8% of this population is elderly.
The Asian Hindu community in America is often stated to be among the very educated
section of the society. The community is having their own area of living and the area is
mainly Cook and DupageCounty in Chicago of Illinois (Usa.gov, 2018).
3) Are there boundaries of this group? If so, what are they?
There are geographical and cultural boundaries in the ethnic group mentioned in this
particular case. There are particular regions in the country where this particular
community is concentrated in the United States of America. The highest number of Asian
Hindus stay in the Denver state in the United States of America. This community is

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mostly found in the suburban areas of the United States of America. In the State of Illinois
in Chicago region they are located in the Cook and Dupage County. This areas has been
mainly dominated by the Asian Indian ethnicity most of whom are Hindu in their religion.
The cultural boundary mainly exists in the social circle of the community of the Asian
Indians and often there are social decriminalization which leads to further growth of the
boundary.
4) Does this community exist within a certain city or county?
It is seen that there is a trend that a particular community is situated in some
certain areas because the people of a particular community usually connects with each
other from the same background or the same interests. Most people from this population is
found in the Cook and Dupage County in Chicago of Illinois. This particular population is
mainly found in the suburban regions of the state where the cost of living is lower and
affordable than the urban areas of the country. The population in this region was about
5,238,216 in the year of 2015 among which about 1 percent was the Hindu community
(Usa.gov, 2018).
5) Are there general characteristics that separate this group from others?
As a part of the Hindu-Indian community there are facts that set the community
apart from the others. This particular group has its own distinctive characteristic features
compared to various other ethnic groups that are present in this region. The Asian Indian
Hindu community is having their own religious, cultural, linguistic and physical identity.
The community has their own temples which is kind of a gathering which brings the
community together in the pursuit of achieving unity among the community members.

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The dress they wear is quite different from the rest of the community. They wear saree,
dhoti, kurta and other ethnic dresses. One of the spiritual faction of the community
known as the Hare Krishnas often wear saffron dresses. There are a number of festivals
that are observed and celebrated among this community.
6) Education levels, birth/death rates, age of deaths, insured/uninsured?
In the United States, according to the reports of 2016, 9 people out of 10 at least had a
diploma degree of high school or GED but only 1 person out of 3 people had a graduate degree
or more than that. The rates of educated women are higher than that of men
(Worldpopulationreview.com, 2018). The percentage of educated women is 33% and the
percentage of educated men is 32%. Race and Hispanic origin varies the rates of educational
attainment. It has been found that Asian people aged 25 hold the bachelors’ degree and they have
more number of people holing at least a bachelors’ degree than that of the non-Hispanic Whites.
The blacks and the Hispanic people have lesser number of education rates. Adult people with
some kind of physical disability are unlike to hold a bachelors’ degree. The National Vital
Statistics System one of the oldest data sharing process which provides data on the Public
Health, based on the Nation’s crucial statistics.
It provides data on the vital events such as the rates of death and birth, marriages and
many others. According to survey of 2017, the Chicago birth rates report say that there were
3,853,472 babies nationally born in the year 2016 (Dudek., 2018).As compared to the data of
2007, the number which was 4,316,233, there is a downfall in the later years
(Worldpopulationreview.com, 2018). The birth rates of teens between the age group of 15-19,
there was a 7% declination which came down to 194,284 total births
(Worldpopulationreview.com, 2018). The death rates of babies are high because of the fertility

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problem within the mothers. The analysis of the data found from Third National and Nutrition
Examination Survey reveals that the mortality ratio of the insured against the uninsured was
1:80. It has also been found that still the more than 46 million people in Chicago lacks health
insurance and life insurance.
7) Where is this group located geographically…? Urban/rural ?
The community that is the Asian Hindu people is geographically located in the suburban
city of Chicago. There are six major Asian immigrant groups in the Chicago Illinois area.The six
different groups are the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Asian Indians, Filipinos and the
Vietnamese. It has been found that the Asian Indian groups are the fastest growing groups which
settled down in the DuPage and the northern Cook country. The Chinese people settled down at
Chinatown, the Japanese and the Koreans settled at northern suburbs and the Vietnamese settled
in the western suburbs. The areas like. Lincolnwood and Skokie are highly preferred by all the
six groups. Though the past years, it has been found that the Asian people have continued to
keep strong social cohesion, link to the economic factors and connection with their own groups.
8) Why is a community assessment being performed? What purpose will it serve?
The community assessment is being performed in order to develop an understanding of
the needs and gaps of a particular community. The examination will help to find out the lacking
within the community and will support to add some improvements in future. The goal of the
community assessment is to gain knowledge about the impacts of the gap or lacking on the
members of the community. For example, less number of high school or graduation degree
indicates that the kids of the community are required to be sent to school. The long lives of the
senior citizens indicate that they need more assistance and financial support to pay their own

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medical bills and treatment. The necessity to balance the society comes to the fore, when a clash
occurs regarding the park spade and the play fields among the community members. Av
community is formed families, community members, individuals, seniors, business
organizations, seniors and many others. The exploration and analysis of each of the components
will help to address the specific needs of each category. The community assessment will serve
the purpose of know the community assets, response and needs. The strengths and weaknesses
of the community are known and understood well. The asset gaps are also identified by the
assessment. The assessment will also help the community members to decide in what way they
can contribute for the betterment of the community.
9) How will information for the community assessment be collected?
Collection of information has two processes secondary and primary, secondary data are
the information that is already available and primary are the new information that has to be
gathered from the community. In order to get the information for the assessment will be
collected via credible sources to proper data collection tools. It is essential in any data collection
methods that the limits are set on what will be accepted and what will not be accepted. The data
must be collected on priority basis. The time and resources must be considered before selecting
the methods of data collection. A Data collection plan worksheet must be used for the
documentation. The key questions have to be identified and listed. The entire assessment will be
based on primary and secondary data. The members of the community will be surveyed via
rounds of questionnaires. The source will be local at first, and then it will be expanded. The
quality will be focused on more than quantity s that the other aspects of the community can also
be highlighted. Focus group method will also be used as a primary data collection method.
Cases will be studied to get better insight into the issues.

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Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discussion it can be concluded that community
assessment is necessary for understanding the gaps of the community so that proper action can
be taken to eliminate the issues. There is a large section of Indian population in the United States
of America many of whose ancestors travelled in this land and many of whom themselves
travelled into this country. This section of the people is mainly known as the Indian American
community. The community assessment served the purpose of knowing the community assets,
response and needs. The strengths and weaknesses of the community are known and understood
well. The asset gaps are also identified by the assessment. The assessment is also helpful for the
community members to decide in what way they can contribute for the betterment of the
community.

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Reference list:
Dudek. M., (2018). Chicago’s teen birth rate reaches new low| chicago.suntimes.com. Retrieved
from https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/teen-birth-rate-chicago-sex-education-
prevention/
Ortega, F., & Peri, G. (2013). The effect of income and immigration policies on international
migration. Migration Studies, 1(1), 47-74.
Usa.gov., (2018). Data and Statistics about the U.S. | Usa.gov. Retrieved from
https://www.usa.gov/statistics
Worldpopulationreview.com. (2018). America | worldpopulationreview. Retrieved from
http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/united-states-population/