Sentinel City Simulation
Sentinel City Simulation
Lucreshia Jackson
American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Dr. Teri Logghe
19th September 2022
Sentinel City Simulation
The overall population of Sentinel City is 663,862 people with its four neighborhoods; Caser park district, Industrial Heights, Nightingale square, and Acer Tech Center. The highest population is found in the Casper Park district with a population of 352,643 people and the lowest population of 38,855 is found in the Industrial Heights neighborhood. The other two neighborhoods have a population of 103,974 people in Nightingale square and 168,390 people in Acer Tech. Among this population, the persons over the age of 65 years are 10.5% of the total population, those under the age of 18 who are the majority make up 21.7% of the total population and the rest,7.4% is of those persons who are under the age of 5 years. The city is comprised of several racial groups. The majority of these racial groups are the whites at 80.6% and the lowest racial group is Alaska and Native Americans who constitute 2% of the total population. Other racial groups include Asians at 3.7%, Latinos and Hispanics at 31.5%, and Native Americans who constitute 10.4% of the total population (Sentinel City, 2022).
In Nightingale, most of the population is the Whites at 81.3% and the least populated are the Latino/Hispanic at 3.7%. The majority of the age groups in Nightingale are of age between 18 and 64 years at 77.82%, children under 5 years constitute 2.4% of the population while those under the age of 18 years are at 5.9% of the population, and 13.9% are people above the age of 65 years. In Acer Tech Center, the most dominant race is the whites who constitute 70.2% of the population, The Latinos/ Hispanics constitute 13.7% of the population. Children under the age of 17 years constitute 11.1% of the population while those above the age of 65 years are at 19.8% of the population. Casper Park District’s population has whites as the majority at 63% of the population while Latinos/Hispanics constitute 24% of the population. Children under the age of 5 years are at 10.9% of the population, children below the age of 18 years at 33.8% of the population, and those above the age of 65 years are at 6.5% of the population. The population in Industrial Heights has Latinos/Hispanics as the majority ethnic group at 46.8% of the population, and African Americans at 13.1% of the population. The people above the age of 65 years in this neighborhood are 0.9% of the population (Sentinel City, 2022).
The median household income of Sentinel City is $49,091. The lowest median income is in Industrial Heights with an income of $24,672. The highest median income is at Nightingale Square with an income of $269,550. The other neighborhoods have a median household income of $80,134 in Casper Park District and an income of $166,300 Acer Tech community. The population in sentinel City that lives below the level of poverty is 18.9%. The non-insured residents in each of the four neighborhoods are 22.7% in Casper Park, 1.5% in Acer Tech Center, 0.7% in Nightingale Square, and 37.5% in Industrial Heights (Sentinel City, 2022).
Poverty signs in this city can are evident in the Industrial Height neighborhood where the buildings have old bricks and cracks with so much graffiti on them. Some homeless people are seen on the streets, especially along the Inter-Faith Church. The neighborhood also has plenty of trash cans and more garbage spilled especially in the Bogeda Market and the street along School District. There are also garbage heaps that are very large around the buildings with rats running around them in Industrial Height, especially along the Acer Condominium. There is also a fire and a burning car that can be observed near the Soup Kitchen with the smoke polluting the air. Most of the buildings are either abandoned or in need of repair. The streets also have sinkholes with cracks on them. Other signs of poverty especially in this neighborhood of Industrial Heights are its lowest household income of $24,672 and also it has the highest number of non-insured residents which is 37.5% of the total population in Sentinel City (Sentinel City, 2022).
While I take the trip through the city, I could observe more police officers, especially in the two neighborhoods of Industrial Heights and Casper Park District. I could also see many people riding bikes and others running since the city is very much urban. The city is also active with children playing in their respective schools, running, and riding their bikes, people could be seen talking in various outdoor eateries, and many people visit on the sidewalks. There were also a few individuals using crutches, wheelchairs, and walkers but there were no accessibility ramps in the City. Some dogs could be seen roaming around the streets. There are also a few homeless individuals on the streets. Most of the population in the city seemed to be whites with a few Middle Eastern men and a single African American man that could be seen walking along the sidewalks.
I could also notice that the city is more of an urban area with fewer trees even in areas along the park. There is also much less space for outdoor recreation. Many people in this city however utilize public transportation means as many people around the bust stops could be seen waiting for the bus. Many people could be seen using bicycles for transport and also others who lived around the city traveling by foot. Others could use personal cars as I observed parked cars on the streets. There are also many places where people could meet and socialize such as tennis courts in the Nightingale Square neighborhood, outdoor restaurants, or hanging out around stores such as Joe’s market.
The city also has few centers. For example the Senior Center in Nightingale. There are also churches for example the Catholic Church in Industrial Heights. This church has a soup kitchen that serves 12% veterans,7% disabled adults, 64% homeless people, 6% elderly, 7% disabled, 25 healthy children, 3% homeless children, and 6% healthy adults. It serves between 39,000 and 51,000 meals per month (Sentinel City, 2022). There is also the Interfaith Church. There is also a Muslim faith since I could observe men dressed in robes and women in their veils as I took a trip around the city. The churches were in good shape indicating that these institutions were being used frequently. There are also medical centers with nursing homes. There are playing grounds for children. There were also more dining and shopping centers around the city such as Joe’s Grocery, Fresh Market, and The Bodega.
The community services available in the City include parks and recreational facilities that offer educational programs such as swimming classes, adult fitness, gardening and food programs, city sports, and summer camps for the kids. The system of healthcare also offers services to the elderly such as service animals, senior transportation, abuse prevention advocates for the elders, community centers, medical care advocates, service animals, and government entitlement assistance. There are other senior living options offered such as swing beds, living units for the seniors, nursing home units, and long-term care. The city hall offers services to victims of assault, legal aid, shelter, emergency and therapy funds, and group treatment. The housing project offers the house to low-income persons or families as their rentals are 2 or 1-bedroom units and studios.
From my analysis of this City, I noticed that the area with the highest median household income was a nice area with more insured residents in that area. For example, Nightingale square with the highest median income had the least insured individuals compared to Industrial Heights with the lowest median income and the highest number of uninsured individuals. The poorest part of the city was Industrial Heights with characteristics such as garbage all over the streets, abandoned and old buildings, and buildings that are rats infested. The area which was the richest is Nightingale square because its streets and buildings were well kept and clean. I also noticed that income is the biggest issue that affects tye population of this city. For instance, those people living in Industrial Heights and are insured live in conditions that are unhealthy with no or little access to healthcare and therefore are more vulnerable to diseases in this area compared to other areas in Sentinel City.
One of my target populations of interest in the City is the younger adults between the ages of 14-25 years who make up around 30% of the population. After my first stop at the Better Health clinic in this city, I observed that almost 75% of the people diagnosed with gonorrhea were individuals between these age brackets. Therefore, the major concerns of health to this target population are their vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections. HPV was among 45% of this population and 60% had chlamydia. According to the World Health Organization, most STI infections are at higher rates for people between 20-24 years followed by 15-19 years old (Mcharo et al., 2022). This number is so shocking and makes me question the main cause of these particular cases. Therefore, the city lacks sex education services for the youths, and also the poverty levels could be the reason. Another health concern is the lack of space for outdoor recreation activities. There are also few basketball or tennis courts and no hiking or bike trails for the kids. This leads to the kids being inactive. According to (Marker et al., 2018) fitness and exercise activities improve the quality of life.
The simulation, therefore, has provided an emerging experience on how to pay attention to the good stuff in our community. Going through all the data presented in this report, therefore, provides me with the skills of developing the correlation between health and the income of my community as well. With this experience, I know that in some way I can be able to contribute to huge changes in my community to improve the well-being of the people in my community as I can be able to identify the areas that need to be fixed.References
Marker, A. M., Steele, R. G., & Noser, A. E. (2018). Physical activity and health-related quality of life in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 37(10), 893.
Mcharo, R. D., Kisinda, A., Njovu, L., Mcharo, M., Mbwilo, F., Mihale, G., … & Msuya, S. E. (2022). Prevalence of and risk factors associated with HIV, Herpes Simplex Virus-type 2, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections among 18–24-year-old students attending Higher Learning Institutions in Mbeya-Tanzania. PloS one, 17(5), e0266596.
Sentinel, C. (2022). Getting on the bus: evaluation of Sentinel City® 3.0 virtual simulation in community/population health clinical placement. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 17(1).
