Windshield Survey, Essay Example

The area I selected to conduct the windshield survey of the clinical placement community on is Lanham, Maryland. This town is located in Northwestern Maryland and is a part of Prince George’s county. As of the 2010 census count, the community was said to have a population of approximately 10,000 people.

Even though the population of this community is considered small, they are visible in the community. There seem to be a lot of families, and their activities vary depending on the time of day. During my morning survey, I noticed a lot of parents walking younger children to the school bus stop and a large group of children waiting for the bus to pick them up. Throughout the day, I saw a lot of runners that were between the ages of 20 and 50. As I passed by the shopping centers, I saw a mixture of people, mainly middle aged women and elderly couples. The people living in the neighborhood overall were mainly Caucasian and African American; I didn’t see anyone else who fell into another racial category outside of these two. Since I saw a lot of families during this survey, I am assuming that the typical age range of a family from this area is between the ages of 5 to 45. I did see some elderly people who I believed to be 70 or greater. Since a lot of preschoolers and school-aged children were out with their parents in the morning, there are a lot of young families living in Lanham. The people that I observed appeared healthy; the families walking their children to the bus stops seemed active and there were a lot of young runners. The elderly individuals that were out in the community seemed to be completing their shopping tasks without great difficulty, so they likely all take good care of themselves. I only noted one elderly woman with a walker during my survey, and she didn’t appear to be walking with it slower than expected; although she may have some locomotion issues, these problems didn’t seem to be to any great extent. A majority of the residents appeared to be well-nourished, of moderate weight, and well-dressed. There didn’t seem to be any tourists or visitors in the community; most of the people seemed to be locals. There were no people who appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and while there were some pregnant women, they were usually accompanied by their spouse or were of a reasonable age to be having a child.

A majority of the homes I observed were well-kept, and there was a mixture of single-family homes and multifamily structures, although a majority were single family homes. None of the areas seemed to be undergoing urban renewal and the modes of transportation that people were using involved mainly cars, walking, and biking; I did see one public bus, but not a lot of people were riding it. The bus stops themselves were well kept and seemed to be a viable transportation option for those who are unable to drive. While it is difficult to tell if the public busses stop on a route near the hospital, it is likely that it accommodates people who need access to health care resources. There seemed to be no public housing in this area; a majority of the population likely has a job that is considered to be at least middle class. Since Washington D.C. is just a 30 minute drive from this area, it is likely that a majority of working individuals commute there for work; there were no unemployed people visible with the exception of the elderly and children. No people were hanging around outside in a manner that would suggest that they were up to no good; all children were in school and everyone outside seemed to be headed somewhere. I did not notice any campaign signs or health education on billboards or other forms of advertisement. Although the population is small in this area, there are many elementary schools, two middle schools, a high school, and a bible college.

Doctor’s Community Hospital is the hospital in this area. Since this is the areas only hospital, they serve to help people with all kinds of maladies; it is located in a place where the whole community of Lanham could access it. There are many clinics that seem to serve anyone located nearby to them in the community; there are however, no family planning services. There are many doctor’s offices, and they are specialists and generalists. I noted one nursing home and many pharmacies. It is likely that these resources are appropriate to address the needs of the community because a large majority of this community seems to be middle class and not have a need for a lot of the programs that may exist elsewhere.

Lanham is a clean town and there is nothing that would make me suspicious of pollutants. The sanitary conditions of the housing are all excellent and the homes are well-kept. The roads are well-maintained and for the most part smooth; there are also adequate traffic lights, signs, and sidewalks. The railroad has adequate warnings and barriers to protect passersby. The busier streets are well lit, and this is not a heavily trafficked area. There isn’t handicapped access to all sidewalks, but the shopping centers do provide this. There are several school playgrounds that the children took advantage of after school; others were seen playing in their front yards. There were several restaurants, food was not sold on the streets, and people were not eating public; there were no places for people to sit and eat and no restrooms. I didn’t observe any pests.

In most families, the parents were caring for the children; in several cases, it was the grandparents. There appears to be a sense of neighborliness because a majority of the people in the community seemed to know each other, even in the shopping centers. There are signs in some neighborhoods for neighborhood activities and a few have a neighborhood watch. Religion is important in Lanham and there are Hindu temples and Christian churches; there are five in total. This area seems to have no social problems.

There didn’t seem to be any folk medicine practice and there were no alternative medicine practitioners with the exception of a few chiropractors that may also practice acupuncture. Health resources seem to be well utilized; there was a sign for a flu shot distribution at one of the churches, which was also an example of preventative care. While I did not see any signs for health fairs or health related advertisements, the community as a whole seemed to be in good health.