Demographic Composition of the Community
My neighborhood is Woodside, zip code 11377, which is a residential and commercial neighborhood located in Queens with New York City, United States. Specifically, the neighborhood is located in the western portion of the borough of Queens. Woodside is bordered by other neighborhoods including Maspeth, Astoria, and Sunnyside. The community district associated with Woodside is Queens 2. Woodside consists of different types of housing ranging from apartments to bungalows, as it hosts different blend of people from different social statures. Regarding its safety, Woodside has a police precinct, New York Police Department - 114th Precinct aimed at ensuring that the neighborhood remains safe for all. Access to transportation in Woodside considering that one would use the train or bus all of which are readily available depending on the mode of transport expected.
Resources and Unique Characteristics of the Community
Regarding its resources, it can be noted that Woodside has a wide array of resources that play a critical role in promoting the overall outlook of the community. Some of the hospitals in the neighborhood include NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health and Woodside Medical Office among others (NYC Health + Hospitals, 2018). From a political perspective, Woodside is represented by the 22 nd and 26 th districts of the New York City Council. Some of the schools in the neighborhood include PS 361Q The Woodside Community School, St Sebastian's Catholic Academy, and P.S. 152 Gwendoline N. Alleyne School among others. Woodside also has two facilities that are able to provide senior services, which are Queens Boulevard Extended Care Facility and Interim HealthCare of Woodside NY. From this perspective, what is clear is that indeed Woodside can be considered as being a highly resourceful neighborhood, which plays a critical role towards improving the quality of life for the people.
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Vital Statistics
When evaluating the demographics associated with Woodside, what is clear is that it can be considered as one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the United States today. According to the census data, Woodside has a population of 89,688 out of which 46,136 are male while 43,552 are female; thus, reflecting on some form of gender balance in the neighborhood. From an ethnic point of view, the predominant community living within Woodside is Asians, who account for 39.9% of the population. Some of the other communities are Hispanics, whites, blacks, and others accounting for 33.5%, 22.5%, 1.3%, and 2.8% respectively. That serves as a clear indication of the fact that indeed the community within Woodside remains as being culturally diverse.
According to health data, the life expectancy in Woodside is 85.4 years. Regarding the age balance, approximately 17% of the population is aged between 0 and 17 years, 39% between 25 and 44 years, 24% between 45 and 64 years. That serves as a clear indication of the fact that significant number of the people living within Woodside are between the age of 25 and 44 years. From an economic point of view, the median household income in Woodside, as of 2017, was $67,359 with approximately 20% of the population living below the poverty line. The unemployment rate in Woodside is approximately 5%, which is considered as one of the key social challenges affecting this neighborhood today. Another key statistic to consider is that approximately 51% of residents within Woodside live in rented houses or apartments.
Comparison of Vital Statistics to New York City and National Trends
Since the statistics were reported, one of the key aspects to note is that there have not been any major changes considering that the population in the neighborhood has remained practically the same. Although the population has increased slightly, it is important to note that most of the families have remained the same, which means that it has not any major impacts on the vital statistics including areas such as life expectancy and age balance.
The most vulnerable population in the Woodside neighborhood is the black Americans taking into account that they face serious challenges in terms of access to mental health care services, which is considered as the main unmet need. According to Healthy People 2020 (2019), mental health remains as one illness that is contributing to a significant health burden within the United States when compared to other diseases. Most of the blacks living in the neighborhood find themselves needing to go to the larger New York area for them to access quality mental health care services. That has been driven by the fact that this population finds itself being a minority within the Woodside neighborhood.
When comparing the vital statistics, as have been presented to those of New York City and national trends, it is clear that there exist significant disparities. On life expectancy, Woodside has a life expectancy of 85.4 years, which is notably higher when compared to an average of 81.2 years in New York and 78.7 from a national perspective. Other statistics also show serious differentiation in terms of the statistics in Woodside when compared to the averages in New York and the United States, as a whole. One of the most vulnerable populations in Woodside is the African American community, which has encountered major challenges in seeking to ensure that their unmet needs are met. The main health risk that this community is facing revolves around mental health, as access to mental health care services is somewhat limited.
Major Issues Affecting the Health of the Community
The first key issue affecting the health of the community in Woodside is poorly maintained housing units, which serves as a contributing factor to the increasing number of asthma cases and respiratory illnesses. Lack of proper planning or adherence to the housing policy has led to an increase in poorly maintained housing units, which becomes a key issue of concern in promoting wellness (NYC Health, 2015). Healthy People 2020 (2019) reflects on the leading health indicator on environment quality suggesting that it tends to have a direct connection to health living and disparities; thus, creating the need for having to ensure that the environment adhere to all quality standards. The outcome that this has had is that it has affected the air quality in the neighborhood; thus, creating a situation where a significant number of the people often find themselves facing risks of asthma and respiratory illnesses.
The second key issue to note is that Woodside does not have a psychiatric care facility; thus, exposing the population groups in the neighborhood to poor mental health. The challenge of mental health can be seen from the increasing cases of suicides in the neighborhood, which have been attributed to lack of proper mental care (NYC Health, 2015). Healthy People 2020 (2019) indicates that 1 in 4 adults suffers from a mental illness with 1 in every 17 having a serious mental health issue. That relates to the issue of suicides, as the local government has not focused on mental health as a key health issue of consideration. Failure by the local government to invest in a psychiatric care facility has been noted as the main factor that leads to the exposure of the population to mental health issues. That creates the need for having to work hard in seeking to find a viable solution to this issue in a bid to improving mental health.
The third key issue of consideration is lack of adherence to safety standards when engaging in projects, which exposes workers to serious risk of injuries. Healthy People 2020 (2019) lists injuries and violence as some of the leading health indicators that seek to determine the health of the society. In this case, the fact that workers are facing risks of unintentional injuries serves as a clear reflection of the fact that there is indeed need to ensure that these risks are minimized significantly. Woodside, being a commercial neighborhood, hosts several companies, some of which have been accused of failing to adhere to set out work environment standards. The issue has created a situation where a significant number of the workers in these companies often find themselves being exposed to risk of harm or injuries within their respective positions.
Proposed Intervention
In dealing with the issue of mental health, the proposed intervention would revolve around community engagement and education as one of the ways through which to provide the community with knowledge on mental health issues. Lack of knowledge is considered as one of the key factors facilitating the occurrence of mental health issues, some of which are contributing to cases of suicides. The expectation is that by engaging in community education, most people will have a clear understanding of what they ought to look out for in seeking to determine the risks that the community is facing with regard to poor mental health. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2019), the main idea of having to adopt Healthy People 2020 is to help in attainment of “high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death” (p.1). From this perspective, it is clear that the recommendation seeks to achieve this outcome by ensuring that mental health is considered as part of enhancing overall efficiency in promoting overall wellness. That will also seek to ensure that the community members advocate for the setting up of a psychiatric care facility to care for the mental health needs of the community members.
References
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Healthy People 2020 . Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2020.htm
Health People 2020. (2019). Environment Quality . Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Environmental-Quality
Health People 2020. (2019). Injury and Violence . Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Injury-and-Violence
Health People 2020. (2019). Mental Health . Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Mental-Health
NYC Health + Hospitals. (2018). Neighborhood Health Centers . Retrieved from https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/elmhurst/community-medical-centers/
NYC Health. (2015). Queens Community District 2: Woodside and Sunnyside . Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2015chp-qn02.pdf
