Running head: Moapa Valley Community Project

Moapa Valley Community Project

Spencer May
Dixie State University

Moapa Valley Community Project

Moapa Valley Community Project

Being raised in a small community can be worthwhile and not as fast paced as growing
up in the city. Many times in these communities everyone knows everyone. One issue with
growing up in this area is many times people grow up leaving doors unlocked when they are
home or even away from home. This can be even more of an issue to the older generations
because they have always grown up this way. This is concerning because many times break-ins
occur in elderly homes. These people tend to be our friends and family and it is important that we
as a community help them and do our best to protect them.
Community Assessment
Moapa valley is a small group of communities located just 64 miles northeast of Las
Vegas Nevada. It is composed of three small towns: Logandale, Overton, and Moapa Town. This
community is in a desert climate and is in a valley that mainly consists of foothills and mesas.
According to the Census of 2010 (USCB, n.d.) there were 5,784 people. The racial makeup of
these communities was 92.41% White, 0.24% African American, 0.66% Native American, 0.26%
Asian, 0.36% Pacific Islander, 4.34% from other races, and 1.73% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.09% of the population. The communities the population
was spread out with 33.5% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 21.6%
from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. The
2015 violent crime rate in Moapa Valley was 478 out of 100,000. The majority of these victims
were elderly during break-ins.
Target Population
The target population in this study are the elderly. Many of them have lived in
these small communities their entire lives or have lived here long enough to feel comfortable.
Many have stated that they leave everything unlocked even when they are not home. After
conducting a windshield study in the area and asking the population of 55 years and older if they

Moapa Valley Community Project

always lock their doors or check who is behind the door before answering 30% said no, 25% of
responses said sometimes and 45% said they always lock their doors. When speaking with Judge
Lanny Waite he reinforced this belief and stated that it can be even scarier when the elderly are at
home when a crime is committed (L. Waite, personal communication, Month date, 2016). Many
times the elderly person gets assaulted in this scenario.
Problem Identification
Moapa Valley is a small community where everyone knows everybody. The
elderly having grown up most of their lives with this mentality leave their house doors unlocked
while at home and away and answer the door without checking who is behind it. The nursing
diagnosis for this community is an increased risk of robberies and violence among the elderly
population related to old beliefs, unfounded trust in people, unfamiliar with means of basic selfdefense demonstrated by unlocked doors, letting strangers into home, and giving out personal
information freely.
Goal and Objectives
The goal is to reduce the number of house break-ins and physical assaults for the elderly
in Moapa Valley. The level of prevention is going to be Primary. The community based
intervention was teaching community classes about the importance of being proactive in the
most basic form of self-defense. Locking doors when at home and away, looking to see who is at
your door before answering it are a few of the many basic steps. The Healthy People 2020
objective that will be met is to reduce physical assaults. By being able to prevent the amount of
break-ins this will also decrease the amount of physical assaults from said acts.
Resources
In the community there is a senior community center which is a great resource for
this community. There are also several activates that are done throughout the community to help
the elderly. One example is the public library has a book club that invites all the elderly to come
read once a week.
Constraints

Moapa Valley Community Project

One of the largest constraints that is going to have to be dealt with is the mindset
of the people. Many of them think that it will never happen to them. They also have a hard time
accepting change in these smaller communities. Another issue is the long response times after a
call is made to the police. Many times people do not bother calling because the police dont
come until hours after the call is made.
Community Based Intervention
One intervention that will be done is implementing community/neighborhood
watch programs to help protect and report suspicious activities. According to Bachman,
Dillaway, and Lachs (1998) this is one of the better actions that can be done to prevent violence
and break-ins for the elderly in a community setting (p. 187). It is important that signs are placed
all around the town saying that the neighborhoods participate in a neighborhood watch program.
The other intervention that was done was teaching classes at the local community level to teach
the importance of being proactive in the most basic form of self-defense. Locking doors when at
home and away, looking to see who is at your door before answering it are a few of the many
basic steps that were taught during this course. Nelson (2002) states that the best way to prevent
and notice signs of violence with the elderly is education. That is what this intervention was
completed.
Conclusion
Making sure the elderly population is informed and safe is very important. Giving them
the tools and knowledge on how to protect themselves is the first step to accomplishing this goal
and having completed these interventions in the first step of success.

Moapa Valley Community Project

References
Bachman, R., Dillaway, H., & Lachs, M. S. (1998). Violence against the elderly. Research on
Aging, 20(2), 183-198.
homefacts.com/crime
Nelson, D. (2002). Violence against elderly people: A neglected problem. The Lancet,
360(9339), 1094. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/199000899?

accountid=27045
Simon, T. R., & Hurvitz, K., (2014). Healthy people 2020 objectives for violence prevention and
the role of nursing. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(1), 18-26. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545616031?accountid=27045
United States Census Bureau (USCB). (n.d.). ACS demographic and housing estimates: Moapa
Valley. Retrieved from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Moapa Valley, Nevada. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moapa_Valley,_Nevada