Community Health Assessment for Los Angeles County California
The Selected Community
The state of California is geographically divided into three coastal regions. Southern California is bounded by Mexico in the South and the central valley to the North. Los Angeles county is in the middle portion of the region and it has features that also define its boundaries. The county is situated in a large valley that resides along the Pacific coast and is surrounded by mountain ranges. Though a relatively small area geographically, it contains a large and diverse population.
The people of Los Angeles county are among the most culturally and ethnically diverse groups in the country and their healthcare and safety needs reflect this. Nearly 10 million people live in the area which equates to almost 2,500 people per square mile. Of course, this is an urban area, which presents specific problems, and it is a densely populated urban area with many different types of neighborhoods that must all be addressed. This means that there are some areas of the county that are populated with extremely disadvantaged people financially who will have more difficulty obtaining quality healthcare. Whereas some areas of the county house extremely wealthy individuals who have better access to superior healthcare facilities, but may suffer other deficiencies that have to be addressed. The county is also subject to possible disasters due to its position relative to the Pacific Ocean and the San Andreas fault line.
The people that occupy the county are largely Caucasian (74.1%) followed by Asian/Pacific Islander (13.5%), Black (9.4%), and American Indian (1.0%). Intermingled with these classifications, 47.3% of the population also identifies as of Hispanic origin in some way (HHS, 2009). The Census Bureau (2011) indicates that the median per capita income was $27,344, and that the household income was $55,476. In the county, 15.7% of people were deemed to be below the poverty line which was 2% greater than the number below that line in the rest of the state and the nation as a while (Census Bureau, 2011). The disparity of income in the county is also one of the largest in the nation because there are some areas of the county that house people who are extremely wealthy whereas Los Angeles county also has one of the largest homeless populations in the nation with figures suggesting that "an estimated 254,000 men, women and children experience homelessness in Los Angeles County during some part of the year and approximately 82,000 people are homeless on any given night" (Los Angeles Almanac, 2011).
Due to the wide variation in peoples and financial means, there is also a great diversity with regard to culture in the county in question. The largest single population, by group, in the county is Hispanic. These people come from any of a number of Central and South American cultures although the vast majority of the population traces its ancestry to Mexico. Although the cultures of the peoples that identify themselves as Hispanic may seem to correlate highly, there are differences that must be acknowledged by healthcare professionals. Another large group, Asian/Pacific Islanders, is also one in which many different cultures are often mistakenly grouped together. The cultural identity of all of these peoples can be very different due to the length of time the family has been in the United States and how prevalent cultural teaching is in the family.
Another outcome of a widely diverse population, in terms of both culture and socioeconomic status, is the access the individual has to health insurance of some kind. While the wealthiest people in the population may be able to fund their own healthcare needs out-of-pocket, this is not an option for most people living in Low Angeles county. According to HHS figures slightly more than 2 million people are uninsured. While this does not mean that they have no access to health care, it does place a large burden on the available clinics and hospital choices for those without insurance. It is recognized that the area has a sufficient number of healthcare facilities and it is not regarded as an area with a health professional shortage (HHS, 2009).
Besides the health care needs of the community are those for safety and disaster preparedness. The western expanse of the county runs along the Pacific Ocean which is always a potential tsunami danger zone due to the frequent earthquakes which occur in the Pacific rim. The San Andreas fault runs through the county and produces a large amount of minor tremors and has been responsible for a few major earthquakes. The county runs disaster...
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