POPULATION HEALTH DATA BRIEF
Informatics for Transforming Nursing Care
A. S O
CIODEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
1. Key Findings
• Percentage of foreign born, Hispanics and multi-lingual at home individuals are higher than
...
POPULATION HEALTH DATA BRIEF
Informatics for Transforming Nursing Care
A. S O
CIODEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
1. Key Findings
• Percentage of foreign born, Hispanics and multi-lingual at home individuals are higher than the national average.
• The population of uninsured individuals is almost three times the amount of the US top performer
• The population over 65 years of age is approximately 30% higher than the average rate in the US.
• Population percentage change is more than twice the rate of country’s average.
• The per capita income is approximately 16.5% higher than the national average
Florida County Map (Maps of World, 2020).
2. Introductory paragraph
The United States Census Bureau, 2019, provided the information obtained about the population characteristics of Palm Beach County’s (PBC) vital statistics in comparison to that of the United States. In addition, the map of the state of Florida was obtained from Maps of World, 2020 with highlighted PBC.
Based on the numbers provided it is apparent there are 6 characteristics (population change, individuals ≥ 65 years, foreign born, multilingual, Hispanic heritage and individuals under 65 without insurance) that PBC is above the country’s average. This could be attributed to geographical location and tropical weather.
3. Sociodemographic Profile Table
Population Characteristics County United States
Population Estimates 1,496,770 328,239,523
Population Percent Change 13.4 6.3
Percentage of Persons Under the Age of 18 19 22.3
Percentage of Persons 65 Years and Over 24.4 16.5
Percentage of Women 51.5 50.8
Percentage White Alone 74.6 76.3
Percentage Hispanic Alone 23.4 18.5
Percentage of Foreign-Born Persons 25.0 13.5
Percentage Language Other Than English Spoken at Home, Percent of Persons Age 5+ 31.6 21.5
Percentage of Houses with a Computer 90.9 88.8
Percentage with High School Graduate or Higher 88.2 87.7
Percentage with a Disability, Under Age 65 Years 6.7 8.6
Percentage without Health Insurance, Under Age 65 Years 17.9 10.0
Percentage in Civilian Labor Force Age 16 Years+ 59.7 62.9
Percentage of Women in Labor Force Age 16 Years+ 54.2 58.2
Total Healthcare and Social Assistance Revenue ($1,000) $9,756,686 $2,040,441,203
Total Retail Sales Per Capita ($1,000) $19,700,117 $4,219,821,871
Per Capita Income in the Past 12 Months $37,998 $32,621
Percentage of Persons in Poverty 12.2 11.8
Population Per Square Mile 670.2 87.4
(United States Census Bureau, 2019).
B. COUNTY HEALTH TRENDS & RANKINGS
1. Introductory Paragraph
As recommended, the information related to health trends and rankings for Palm Beach County (PBC) was obtained from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps website. Below you will find graphs that show how PBC compares to the top performers in the United States and Florida as a whole. The method used to collect the data was generalized research using health outcomes as the focus of the trends in PBC.
2. Discussion of Health Trends
The seven major health trends used for this briefing are; adult obesity, uninsured, physical inactivity, alcohol-impaired driving deaths, sexually transmitted infections, children in poverty and violent crimes. There are 67 counties in the state of Florida and PBC ranks #10 in the overall health outcomes of the state. The other rankings are; # 13 for length of life, # 7 for health factors, # 4 for health behaviors, # 7 for clinical care, # 22 for social & economic factors and # 34 in physical environment. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
PBC is a major destination location for retirees, affluent vacationers and investors trying to acquire new property. As a result, the cost of living in PBC tends to be higher than most counties but it attracts the population that is influenced by these factors. In the category of physical environment PBC ranks 34th and this is attributed to the cost of housing, which is significantly higher than other counties and states when wage to rental cost ratio is compared. However, the good news is PBC has improved over the past 10 years in all of the seven categories highlighted below. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
Violent crime rate in PBC tends to be higher than the rate of the national average and although there has been a decline, we tend to maintain the higher-rate status, which gave rise to gated communities and increasing property costs. Another area of concern is the alcohol-impaired driving deaths in PBC that have reported peaks and valleys in reported incidents. Fortunately, the most recent statistics indicate a decline and numbers and PBC have better ratings in comparison to other counties and the US in general. Uninsured in PBC is another major concern as the numbers indicate that PBC’s numbers are significantly higher than US in general and slightly higher than Florida’s general numbers. This could be associated with the employment laws in Florida that would allow employers to employ individuals to work less than 40 hours per week so that benefits would not be mandated. In addition, the union support in Florida is significantly lower than other major cities/states/counties, which would leave employees vulnerable. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
3. Health Trends (Visual Graphs)
• Adult Obesity
Figure 1: Adult Obesity in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 1: Obesity trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates fluctuations but ultimately a no-change status with a 0% change in county adult obesity rates from 2004 to 2016 as compared to a 5% increase in the state of Florida and a 5% increase nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
• Uninsured
Figure 2: Uninsured in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 2: Uninsured trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates a decrease in county uninsured rates from 2008 to 2017 of 6% as compared
to an 8% decrease in the state of Florida a 7% decrease nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
• Physical Inactivity
Figure 3: Physical Inactivity in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 3: Physical inactivity trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates an increase in county physical inactivity rates from 2004 to 2016 of 1% as compared to a 1% increase in the state of Florida and a 1% decrease nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
• Alcohol-impaired Driving Deaths
Figure 4: Alcohol-impaired Driving Deaths in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 4: Alcohol-impaired driving deaths trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates a decrease in county alcohol-impaired driving deaths rates from 2008 to 2018 of 13% as compared to a 9% decrease in the state of Florida and an 8% decrease nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
• Sexually Transmitted Infections
Figure 5: Sexually Transmitted Infections in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 5: Sexually transmitted infections trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates an increase in county sexually transmitted infections rates from 2007 to 2017 of 113% as compared to a 50% increase in the state of Florida and a 42% increase nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
• Children in Poverty
Figure 6: Children in Poverty in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 6: Children in Poverty trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates an increase in county children in poverty rates from 2002 to 2018 of 4% as compared to a 2% increase in the state of Florida and a 1% increase nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
• Violent Crime
Figure 7: Violent Crime in Palm Beach County, Florida
Figure 7: Violent Crime trend over time, comparing the county, state, and national rates. This graph indicates a decrease in county violent crime rates from 2007 to 2016 of 38% as
compared to a 40% decrease in the state of Florida and a 17% decrease nationally. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
4. Health Trends Discussion
Based on the seven health trends highlighted above, Palm Beach County has improved in all categories and is trending in the right direction for most the categories. However, for the category of sexually transmitted infections, there was a 113% increase from 2007 to 2017 and although the state of Florida and the US population also trended upwards in this category, the rate was more than twice in PBC. Another category of concern is the children in poverty category and again PBC’s rate was higher with a 4% increase in comparison to a 2% increase in Florida and a 1% increase in the US. PBC had a four time increase rate in comparison to the national rate. Again, the uninsured follows the trend of Florida and the national rate but the uninsured total percentages in PBC are higher than the national percentage.
The adult obesity graph indicates that PBC has had no changes in the rate from 2004 to 2016 but the rates in Florida and nationally have increased, so although there is no progress it’s better than an increase. With regards to physical inactivity there was a 1% change only in all areas with PBC mimicking the national trend. Alcohol-impaired driving deaths in PBC had the most significant decline in rates with a 13% drop while FL and nationally had single digit declines. The last of the 7 health trends to be discussed is violent crime and although PBC rate is higher than the national average, the rate of decline is much more significant at 38% in comparison to a 17% national decline. In general, PBC has improved over the years based on these trends but some areas needs to show a better rate in the name of health.
C. Health Factors
1. Health Factors Table
Factors Influencing Health County Data Top U.S.
Performer State Data
Percentage Adult Smoking 16 14 16
Percentage with Access to Exercise
Opportunities 94 91 89
Percentage Excessive Drinking 15 13 17
Primary Care Physicians (Ratio of Population to
1 Physician) 1,260:1 1,330:1 1,380:1
Percentage with High School Graduation 86 96 82
Percentage with Some College 64 73 63
Percentage with Unemployment 3.6 2.6 3.6
Percentage of Children in Single-Parent
Households 36 20 38
Social Associations (Number of Associations Per
10,000) 6.2 18.4 7.1
Violent Crime (Number of Violent Crimes Per
100,000) 452 63 484
Injury Deaths (Number of Injury Deaths Per
10,000) 85 32 79
Percentage of Children Eligible for Free or
Reduced-Price Lunch 58 32 57
Air Pollution (Average Daily Density of Air
Pollutants) 5.9 6.1 8.2
Percentage with Severe Housing Problems 22 9 20
(County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).
2. Comparison of Data
It is necessary to use health information rankings in each state so that each county can determine if they are within acceptable limits or there is need for improvement. This will also help with the platforms that government will use to highlight strengths and work on weaknesses as the ultimate goal is to improve the overall health of the community.
Of all the above statistics, sever housing problems again stands out as PBC’s problem is more than twice that of the top U.S. performer. The availability of affordable housing is a problem and poses a major challenge for our residents. Then the percent of children eligible for free or reduced lunch coincides with the children poverty rate as PBC’s rate is again higher than acceptable. Another area of major challenge is violent crime rate with PBC being almost 8 times the rate of the top U.S. performer. One strength I can identify is that we care about our environment and our air pollution rate is lower than the state and top U.S. performer’s averages. There are a few areas where we are close to top performers (adult smoking, access to exercise opportunities, and low rate of excessive drinking). However, we need to focus on the status of our children and their education.
D. SUMMARY
1. Significant Finding(s)
Of the seven health trends in part B I will focus on sexually transmitted infections as it has the highest rate of increase/change in comparison to the other trends, with a 113% increase from 2007 to 2017, while the state and national rates were double digit increases. These rates are alarming and the highlight opportunities for interventions to improve health outcomes in the county.
There is no one-answer cause of this problem but the solution remains with addressing risky behaviors (unprotected sex, casual encounters, substance abuse/misuse and ignorance). The major fear associated with contracting HIV/AIDS has waned because of the advances associated with treatment and it is now considered a chronic disease like diabetes. As a result, the risky behaviors have increased, giving rise to infection rates. Also, why does PBC have such a high rate of increase in this category? PBC is a retirement community with members that are indulging in renewed sexual encounters thanks to the advent of enhancers. The problem, however is the older population are engaging in unprotected sex because their major concern was unwanted pregnancy, which is no longer an issue so why use a condom?
2. Action Plan(s)
To address this issue of having a high rate of sexually transmitted infections we need to use education, screening and knowledge sharing as keys ways to improve our numbers. How did the top U.S. performer control their numbers? Are we educating our senior citizens as they are now having sex with enhancers? Are we sacrificing sex education because of budget cuts? Are we routinely screening when we see our primary care physicians annually, physicians needs to make this recommendation on
routine visits? Are clinics available to uninsured/unemployed/underserved members of the community as this group can inadvertently spread STD’s just by not having financial resources to know their status?
a. Services or Programs
Implementing services/programs should be a major focus for the governing bodies in PBC and plans to implement interventions mentioned above would improve the general health of our county. One of which could be an incentive program for educational institutions to campaign for safe sex in exchange for college credits to the participants. Have a county-wide radio/television campaign educating listeners about STD’s and the negative impact. Provide free condoms in all employee health, school nurse office, and primary physicians’ office. The cost of condoms can be a deterrent in some cases.
b. Raise Public Awareness and Promote Public Engagement
An advanced professional nurse can use informatics to turn raw data into meaningful information that the general public can understand. Sowing with statistical figures that PBC is below average can play a significant role in swaying the behaviors of our residents and make them more aware. Another way APNs can make an impact is to identify the community/individuals that are more vulnerable to STD’s and coordinate care with the providers.
They can use electronic medical records, census results, etc. to find information and use applications like Excel to summarize targeted information. Lastly, an APN using electronic medical records can improve screening by manipulating the way providers obtain information during patient encounters, forcing addressing risky behaviors, identifying ignorance of the topic and creating an opportunity to educate the patients with specific and standardized information.
c. Monitoring and Evaluating Action Plan
The infection rate should be closely monitored to determine the correlation of the infection rate for the above interventions to determine the effectiveness. To ensure that the interventions engaged by the providers, there should be a trigger question to confirm that the assessment was done and then vital statistics would be retrieved and collected in an application that would allow the APN to obtain groups/sex/age/interventions/risk factors/etc. Then a program like Excel can create charts, graphs and diagrams that will clearly mark progress.
E. DATA SOURCES & METHODS
Data were collected from the United States Census Bureau, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps website and Maps of World to illustrate the graphs, complete the tables and obtain vital statistics related to Palm Beach County in comparison to Florida and national rates. The information ranged from the year 2004 to 2018 depending on the characteristic or topic being reviewed. The information collected on the above websites were easily configured to view counties in comparison to both the entire state of Florida and the United States in general.
Palm Beach County is one of 67 counties in the state of Florida with an estimated population size of 1.496,770 and it is comprised of approximately 74% Caucasian, 19% Black, and 23% Hispanic. A large 24% is over the age of 65, which is higher than the national and state average. This information was obtained by the United States Census Bureau.
References
1. County Health Rankins & Roadmaps. (2020). Palm Beach (PB). Retrieved from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/florida/2020/rankings/palm- beach/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot
2. County Health Rankins & Roadmaps. (2020). 2019 CHR national statistics. County health rankings & roadmaps: Building a culture of health, county by county. Retrieved from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/resources/2019-chr-national-statistics
3. Maps of World (2020). Florida map. Retrieved from https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/florida/
4. United States Census Bureau (2019). QuickFacts Palm Beach County, Florida. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US,palmbeachcountyflorida/PST045219
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