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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT

A Research on Adult Population in Baltimore Community and Need Assessment

Abstract
Community health is a course that involves the study of the community that surrounds nursing

practice and how health is perceived in the community. The community a nurse lives might

affect how he or she performs her nursing duties. It is therefore important for the nurse to always

identify the communities need. In order to know the specific needs of a certain community, the

nurse should know the cultural competence, diversity, geographical location, demographics and

legal factors in the community. Therefore, this paper is based on adult population in Baltimore
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT

community. The paper will discuss the population to be assessed, the race, characteristic of the

population, the boundaries of the group, the community’s location, education levels, death rates,

insured, the significance of the assessment, data collection, data analysis etc. The community

nurse has a role in ensuring that his or her community is well prepared in instances of disasters

and that if a disaster occurs he or she helps the community recover. In addition, education centers

are part of the community and it is therefore important for the school to ensure that it has a

school-based nurse who takes care of the students. Overall, the community members should be

advised on the need for loving one another regardless of the individuals' sexual orientation, race,

cultural beliefs, religion etc.

Keywords; community, community health, adult, assessment, need assessment community health

nurse/roles

A Research on Adult Population in Baltimore Community and Need Assessment

Community health involves the study and betterment of the health features of different

communities. Community health mainly focuses on geographic areas and health needs that may

arise or present in the community. In addition, community health refers to meeting the needs of a

community by identifying their health problems and managing the well-being of members of the

community. Therefore, by using US 2016 census information, the writer came up with the

following information about Baltimore city.

Population
Therefore, the writer has focused on Baltimore community and the adult population in the rural

area. Baltimore community is the largest independent city in Maryland county and has a
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT

population of 617,734 population is in 2017. The adult population is (373729) 60.5% of the

city’s population where an adult is stated as a person above the age of 18 and below 65 years.

27.5% involves persons under the age of 18 and 12.9% persons over the age of 65 years. The

female population is 53.0% while the male population is 47% of the total population. The

community lives in a humble population where their living standard is a bit poor compared to the

urban area

Geographic
The city is located 40 miles northeast of Washington, D.C and in north-central Maryland on the

Patapsco River close to where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. It is also located on the fall

line between the Piedmont Plateau and the Atlantic coastal plain which divides Baltimore into

two parts that are lower and upper part. The city has a total area of 92.1 square miles of which

80.9 square miles is land and 11.1 square miles is water. The city is also bordered by Anne

Arundel County. Baltimore city is divided into nine geographical regions namely northeast, east,

southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest and central. Overall, Baltimore lies within the

humid subtropical climate zone with four distinct seasons and is part of United States

Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones. Humidity climate can contribute to dramatic

lightning storms over the area. The average seasonal snowfall is 20.1 inches but it varies greatly

depending on the winter, with some seasons seeing minimal snow.

Language and Median age

The common language is English where 91% of the population speak English and only 4% of the

population speak Spanish. Most of the adult population uses English as their main language. The

median age is 35 and 36% of the population are married couples.

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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT

Race
Most of the cities population is African American race where their population is 63.3% followed

by White alone whose population is 31.4%. Native Hawaiian occupies 0.4% of Baltimore’s

community. Therefore, most of the adults among Baltimore community are African American.

Religion
Concerning religion, 12% of people in Baltimore are Catholics, followed by Baptist church with

7% then Judaism 4.3% while 11.4% identify themselves with other Christians.

Culture
Baltimore city is dubbed as a city of neighborhoods occupied by different ethnic groups. Mount

Vernon is considered a traditional center of the cultural and artistic life of the city. Baltimore city

has several museums such as Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Museum etc. in addition,

Baltimore’s distinctive flavor is the city’s close association with Blue crab that is sourced from

the Chesapeake Bay. The crabs are steamed in rock salt Old Bay Seasoning. The crabs are served

on tables spread with old newspaper or plain brown wrapping paper. The carbs are also used to

make crab cakes, soft crab sandwiches etc.

Education
About education, adults over 25 years 85.5% are high school graduate or higher while 29.7% are

bachelor’s degree or higher.

Income /Housing
46.6% of the population has their own house while 53.4% are renters.

Health/ Mortality issues in Baltimore city and Health people goals 2020

There is only 11.9% of the total population are disabled. In addition, 8.2% of the adult

population do not have health insurance while 92.8% are insured. In addition, health outcome
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT

and disparities in most instances are synonymous. With a high population, the city has a

population of 20% who are poor who may suffer from health disparities due to lack of income to

cater for their medical bills and day to day expenses. There are a number of health disparities

such as pediatrics, homicides, HIV/AIDs, Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity,

tobacco use, mental health, substance use, access to health care etc thus resulting to high increase

rate in mortality rate among the young and the aged. Disease such as Cancer has a mortality rate

of 228.9%. in most cases, adult does not go for cancer screening thus leading to an increase in

mortality rate. Therefore, by use of the Healthy People 2020 objectives, the researcher will be

able to identify nationwide health improvement priorities, perform a critical research, evaluation,

and data collection needs and create public awareness and understanding among the community

regarding determinants of certain health issues.

The significance of the study

The study will help me identify the most pressing needs of the Adult population in Baltimore

city. By use of the Health people 2020 goals, I will be able to identify issues that have not been

met. The study is also of great benefit to the community and the healthcare where both the

community needs will be addressed and the health care intervention method be identified In

addition, the study will be of benefit to the future academicians of Aspen University where they

be able to identify the needs might not have been met by 2020. Overall, the study will equip me

with more knowledge on how to assess the communities need and enhance my future career.

Problem
The main reason for the research was to identify the factors of health issues that affect the adult

population in getting quality treatment. In most cases, the adult population of above the age of 25
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT

years has families to feed thus income is a major factor that limits them in assessing the required

treatment. In other words, an adult has the responsibility of feeding his or her family with the

income they get. Therefore, for example, if I do not earn enough income to feed my family and

meet the family’s’ needs, assessing quality health care might be difficult because of the maybe

high medical cost. On the other hand, adults below the age of 25 assume that they are health risk-

free and they do not see the need for body screening or medical checkup. In addition, most adults

are unaware of the preparation measures that they could use in case a disaster occurred. Most of

them have only a first aid kit that is not fully equipped with the necessary equipment. Therefore,

as a nurse, it is my role to training the population on how to prepare for an emergency and the

basic requirements that a first aid kit should have. Overall, most health centers do not offer

health programs its community and their medical costs are high. These costs restrain people from

seeking medical advice and treatment thus opting to use traditional methods. It is the role of the

community nurse to ensure that his or her community has quick assessed to medical health and

medical insurance.

Assessment
An intensive literature search was performed combined with a quantitative analysis where the

researcher issued questionnaires and face to face interview with her respondents.in addition

additional tools such as SWOT analysis, need analysis, force field analysis etc was used in

assessing the communities need. The questionnaires helped the respondents give the factors and

basic needs affecting their health. The study was carried out on 14th March 2018. The

quantitative research was conducted where the researcher issued questionnaires to 200
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

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respondents of a different race, age, gender, income status and their needs and challenges faced

while seeking medical attention

Results
In order to come up with better results, questionnaires and face to face interviews were sent out

to different adults in the community. The questionnaires with both closed and open questions

addressed the age of the respondent, gender, income status, race, income status, most pressing

need affecting his or her health, challenges faced when seeking medical attention. I received 72%

of the responses sent to adults in the community.

Table 1.1Total population

Questionnaires Responses Response Rate

Adult population 200 144 72%

Source; Survey study 2018

Table 1.2 Showing the gender of the respondents

Gender Response Response rate

Male 96 60%

Female 64 40%
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

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60% of the respondents were women while 40% were men. The study population was selected in

a way that it avoided gender bias. These showed that adult women were willing to give their

views on their needs and experiences with the community health.

Table 1.3 Showing the Age of the Respondents

The table below shows that most of the respondents were between the age of 25-40 followed by

adults between the age of 18-24 and finally 41-64 years. Concerning the age, a middle-aged adult

found it easier to share their experiences with community health care, challenges they face while

assessing the healthcare’s and issues that the health centers should address

Age Response Response rate

18 24 32 22.2%

25 40 90

41 64 15.3% 22

Source; Survey study 2018

Table 1.4 Showing the race of the respondents

Race Response Response rate

Africa American 80 55.6%

White 50 34.7%

Other races 14 9.7%

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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

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African America response rate was 55.6% followed by the Whites with a response rate of 34.7%

and finally other races with a response rate of 9.7%.

The findings on the adults’ experience with the community health care, community disasters,

their health needs and challenges experienced while seeking medical attention were conducted

using a face to face interview. Where first, the adults raised the issue of increased medical cost

that is many of the adult population felt that they could not afford a quality healthcare due to the

increased cost. In addition, they said that their monthly income was low compared to the day to

day expenses and that seeking services such as body screening and other check-ups would strain

their income. Overall, they said that they prefer going to the hospital only when seek to avoid

these additional expenses. Second, some of the community health nurses were harsh to them and

were not willing to offer the appropriate advice or care. The population said that the nurses

concentrated more on their personal gain that is they preferred staying in their offices without

being disturbed by the patients. Some of the adults also said that, due to the increased use of new

technologies, many nurses focused on improving their knowledge of the system other than

offering full care to the patient. One of them even said, “I would rather stay at home other than

seeking community nurse care who is always ignorant or glued to the new technological

systems.” In addition, they said that they had to wait for long hours before they are attended to.

Third, most of the adults feared the occurrence of another hurricane disaster which had left many

of the poor. They weren’t sure whether they were fully prepared for another disaster. They even

requested the government to implement a precaution measure that could notify them if such a

disaster occurs. They said that these disasters are making them live in fear where they are not

sure of what might happen tomorrow. Some of them said that they even have an emergency plan
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

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and a first aid kit but they are not sure whether these tools will protect them from such disasters.

Fourth, they request the medical centers to open free body screening services and to offer

training programs to the community that could be used to notify the population on the presence

of an epidemic disease and the prevention measures they could use. They feared diseases like

Ebola that swept away most of their relatives and loved ones. Finally, the requested the

government to create more healthcare facilities in Baltimore community thus reducing the long

waiting hours for treatment and inadequate staffing that threatens their recovery plan. Therefore,

if these needs are considered they could perceive themselves as health people by maybe 2020.

Conclusion
Therefore, it is the role of healthcare nurse and community nurse to create a favorable social and

physical environment for their patients. For example, in an external health care setting, the

community nurse should advocate love for one another by offering quality health care to all his

or her patients regardless of their race, culture or even religion. The nurse should not

discriminate among the patients thus promoting equality among the patients. In addition, access

to health insurance should be favorable to all the patients regardless of their total income. That is

even the poor can easily assess the health care without any problems. I recommend that the

health centers should also ensure that the medical costs are at a substandard level and that all the

patient can assess quality care. On the other hand, they should enhance public awareness and

understanding among the community about determinants of health, diseases, disabilities, and

opportunity for progress regardless of the individual’s illness. Overall, the medical centers

should engage multiple sectors while taking actions that would strengthen policies and improve

health practices that are driven by the best available evidence and knowledge. The health should
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

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involve sectors such as community leaders and perform public meeting while creating healthcare

policies. These would motivate the community in raising their health needs.

References

Baltimore Population (2018). Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-

cities/baltimore-population/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2007). Racial and ethnic approaches to community

health (REACH) U.S.: Finding solutions to health disparities. Atlanta, GA: CDC.

Clark, M. J. (2015). Population and community health nursing (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

ISBN: 978-0-13-385959-1.

Healthy People 2020: Oral Health Objectives. (2015, July 08). Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/healthy_people/index.htm
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

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Marton, A. (2014, December 09). Comparing the 'health' of Baltimore neighborhoods. Retrieved

from http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bal-comparing-the-health-of-baltimore-

neighborhoods-20141209-htmlstory.html

QuickFacts. (2016). Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/baltimorecitymarylandcounty/AGE295216
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Running head; A RESEARCH ON ADULT POPULATION IN BALTIMORE COMMUNITY

AND NEED ASSESSMENT