Community Health Nursing - Community of Kansas City

Community Health Nursing

Mandy Wyckoff

WGU

Community Health Nursing

1. 1 The Community Of Kansas City, Missouri based on assessment

This assessment of Kansas City, Missouri is based on three different types of counties within the area; urban, rural, and suburban counties. The counties that are considered urban are Jackson County, Missouri and Wyandotte County, Kansas. In Missouri the rural counties include Ray and Lafayette and the Kansas side includes Allen County. The suburban counties of Kansas include Johnson County and within Missouri are the Platte and Clay Counties.

Within these areas there are immense concerns for the unprotected populations that are prone to health issues and have little or no assistance with medical treatment. The targeted populations include the young, estranged, minorities, and people with low financial incomes, disabled, and the dialectal individuals. The individuals within these categories find their own way of handling the issues to barely get by.

“Demographers estimate that the national population over 65 will double to more than 80 million in the next 30 years, increasing the over 65 age group to almost 20% of the total population.” (Katerndahl, Lenk, Pinkerton, & Trillo) As people age they may begin to develop more health conditions. This group ultimately relies on Medicare, in which can hinder the ability to access health care. The young population battles different health concerns such as sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies, and violence and at times are found to be noncompliant with vaccinations. Over the years the number of individuals that live in poverty has escalated. The suburban areas of Kansas City have noted the greatest incline. The rural areas have actually shown a small decline in poverty events due to the population not growing. Individuals that are unable to speak English have difficulties accessing the health care system due to the lack of the ability to communicate. “Wyandotte County with 12.6% of its residents linguistically isolated is the only county in the area to exceed the national average.” (Katerndahl, Lenk, Pinkerton, & Trillo) Race and ethical backgrounds sometimes interchange with circumstances dealing with health care. With the Kansas City area there is a wide diversity of race and ethics. The homeless population is defenseless and does not have the medical necessities accessible. There is not an actual percentage of homeless known due to the inability to collect data. More than ten percent of the Kansas City’s population battles a disability of some type on a daily basis. A disability could be one that affects the individuals eye sight, hearing, thinking process, their ability to walk, their ability to care for one’s self, or live on their own. When individuals are faced with a disability it can be more difficult to access health care. Another group of the unprotected population is the unemployed. When these individuals lose their jobs they usually lose their source of health insurance. If an individual belongs in more than one of these categories they are at a greater risk of developing a health issue, and having problems seeking health care.