There are many factors that make people healthy or ill.  This week we will focus on the social factors and determinants that impact health.

It is time to get out into your community!

• Go online to the U.S. Census Bureau at https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ (Links to an external site.) (*note, you will be using this website in the Week 2 assignment, so you can get started on collecting all the required data if desired)
  • Input your local zip code, city, or county. Try to get as specific data as possible (city, township, county).
  • Next, identify the:
    • Total population
    • Median income
    • Percentage or number of persons living in poverty
• Go to your local grocery store, use a flyer, or app. Include the stores name, city, and state. Identify cost for the following items (please note whether items are organic):
  • 1 gallon of milk
  • 1 loaf of bread
  • 1 bag of apples (include price per pound)
  • 1 bag of carrots
  • 1 large container of yogurt
  • 1 2-liter of soda
  • 1 bag of chips
  • 1 package of cookies
• Utilizing the data collected, discuss social factors that might impact what groceries are purchased. Try to be as specific to your community as possible (location, availability, poverty levels, etc.).
• Discuss how a community health nurse (CHN) could use one of the 17 intervention categories from the Public Health Intervention Wheel to address areas of food security (Nies & McEwen, 2019).
• In your responses to classmates, include comparisons and contrasting information.

Your discussion post should look like:

• Paragraph one: Utilizing the data collected, discuss a social factor that might impact what groceries are purchased. Try to be as specific to your community as possible (location, availability, poverty levels, etc.)
• Paragraph two: Utilizing the data collected, discuss another social factor that might impact what groceries are purchased. Try to be as specific to your community as possible (location, availability, poverty levels, etc.)
• Paragraph three: Discuss how a community health nurse (CHN) could use one of the 17 intervention categories from the Public Health Intervention Wheel to address areas of food security
• Resources: Where did you find your data?

SOLUTION

• I live in Nassau County in New York City. The total population of Nassau County is 1,356,924. Females are the majority, taking 51.2% of the population. The median income is $116,100, per capita for 12 months $51,422 and the poverty level is 5.6% comparing better than that of the United States at large which is 10.5%. The whites are the majority here with 58.5% of the total population, (US Census, 2019). Situated in a busy state, Nassau has many shopping outlets and a tour of several local grocery stores such as Family Dollar and Cumberland farms helped me to identify the following prices:
  • 1 gallon of milk @ $3.25
  • 1 loaf of bread @ $2.64
  • 1 bag of apples (include price per pound) @ $1.31 organic
  • 1 bag of carrots @ $0.67
  • 1 large container of yogurt @ $2.95
  • 1 2-liter of soda coke @ $1.25
  • 1 bag of chips @ $3.78
  • 1 package of cookies @ $2.98

Social factors like the ability to prepare healthy meals are determined by an individual ability to have sufficient money and time (Nies & McEwen, 2019). Nassau County is one of the wealthiest counties in New York with more disposable income indicates that the majority of people can afford healthy food.  The number of children per household and social demographics factors such as education and gender affects the time individuals spend preparing healthy foods and observing the prices of food commodities from the stores, it’s a clear indication that even if healthy grocery such as carrots and apples are cheap and affordable people here still prefer going for snacks and fast food such as chips.

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