Window Survey Introduction Chapter

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Mooresville

Like many of the small towns throughout the United States, Mooresville offers a variety of residents. The groups that were observed during the window survey includes a lot of young and middle-aged families with a mixture of grandparents who seem to be the primary caregivers for their grandchildren (at least they seemed that way). A lot of the individuals seemed to be overweight, and even obese, in their physical stature. Research shows that many of the citizens are employed and the types of jobs that are prevalent in the town are management and professional jobs at 19.5%, service occupations at 11.9% and sales and office workers at 13.9%. Other male prevalent jobs are construction, extraction and maintenance at 27.6%. Female job occupations include management and professional at 28.5% with an additional 40.5% in sales and office work as well as 17.6% in service occupations.

The physical environment of the town shows a thriving community overall with some areas that are blighted (but not a lot). Most of the homes are well-kept, and the construction of the homes trends towards siding with some brick. The lawns (for the most part) are well-maintained, neat and tidy. Such care displays a sense of community and pride. There are relatively few abandoned vehicles that were observed, and no piles of trash, although there were some yards that were overgrown and unkempt in the poorer areas of the town. The window survey found two public parks, both with walking areas, playgrounds, tables and other amenities for the public. The parks also sport a number of baseball diamonds and soccer pitches, as well as bike trails and a swimming pool.

The town's boundaries are twofold; both manmade and natural. The natural boundaries of the town are the east and west forks of the White Lick Creek that provide water for the town. Samuel Moore originally established the town between those forks due to the proximity and value of the water that not only could provide for the town's drinking and other needs, but could also power the mills that he imagined there. White Lick Creek seems to be relatively clean and continues to provide a source of energy today. The other boundaries are manmade and consists of a major highway and the railroad that divides the town. Both north and south of the State Road 67 boasts housing but the more affluent and spacious homes are south of the road, while north of the State Road boasts lots that are much more crowded and run-down. There are also several public housing areas.

Economically speaking, the town seems to be a bedroom community to Indianapolis and as a bedroom community is more affluent than not. Overall the town takes pride in its appearance and most of the homes and businesses there are well maintained. Mooresville could best be described as a thriving community with pockets of low-income housing, although not described as ghetto. The town does contain a couple of public housing areas with the usual problems associated with public housing, but even these are not so rundown as would constitute complete anarchy.

There are limited areas of shopping in Mooresville, but the town does have a Mall and two large chain grocery stores. The grocery stores are full-service and it does appear that they accept all forms of payment including foodstamps. There are a variety of business opportunities as well as a small manufacturing base.

Indianapolis, with its major metropolitan area and business opportunities is only a short 25 minute drive from Mooresville for those residents that are unable to find a job in town. The unemployment rate is relatively low and stable.

As stated before there are plenty of schools and churches of several denominations. The schools all look to be in fairly good shape and the one library that was discovered by the window survey had plenty of cars in the parking lot and looked to be used and useful.

The social question that could be asked is if this town was a healthy community. Based upon the fact that there are plenty of customers for the hospital and surrounding doctor's offices, one might believe that the health of the individuals in the community is of great importance to the town's citizens. Of course, another way to look at it is that the citizens utilize the health care facilities at a greater rate because they are unhealthy.

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The local hospital does offer a number of conveniences such as classes on eating health and healthy living, as well as courses on such illnesses as hypertension and diabetes. Local health care services also offer chiropractic offices, a massage therapist and even an acupuncturist is available. However, there does not seem to be much in the way of vitamin or herbal shops in the area. The window survey and the subsequent research lends a feeling that that Mooresville's attitude towards healthcare is 'fair'.

My impression of Mooresville is that it is a clean and safe place to live. Overall the community seems to be a friendly one with housing that is well-kept and cared for. It seemed like a family-oriented community with a healthy environment.

The town's demographics includes a 2011 population of 22,608 with an urban population of 14,909 and a rural population of 7,699.

Males and females were relatively equal in the community with males comprising 50.8% and females comprising 49.2% of the total population. The citizens are also fairly well educated with 84.5% of its citizens graduating high school, 14.6% with a bachelors degree or higher, and 3% with having obtained graduate of professional degrees.

The average household in Mooresvilles is comprised of 32.4% families with children under the age of eighteen, while 6.1% of the population are single moms with children under 18. Males who are head of households with children under eighteen years of age are 3.2%. Further analysis shows that the average household income (2011) is $57,635 and a large percentage of the town's residents own their own homes (79.1%) while only 20.9% of the residents rent.

A analysis of the town's overall health shows that there were 859 births and 544 deaths in the community in 2012. Major illnesses in the town included chronic lung disease (7th in the state), heart disease (10th in the state), pneumonia (14th in the state), and kidney disease (20th in the state). There does seem to be an abundance of fast food consumption by the residents of Mooresville. Evidence backing this assertion includes the community statistics and demographics of the citizenry. Such an overconsumption displays unhealthy diet choices since fast food diets are usually high in fat content. Other evidence is that nearly a third (31%) of the residents are considered obese. Obesity has shown to increase and contribute to diabetes, cardiac disease and cerebrovascular disease. The town also has limited access to gyms (1) and to parks (2) which means that many of the adults in Mooresville are likely to be physically inactive or lacking in daily exercise.

Further nursing diagnosis includes an alteration in health maintenance due to the evidence of tobacco use including such factors as the observation through the window survey of people sitting, standing or walking outside while smoking. Some of the relationships that can come about concerning the factors include the fact that tobacco use is one of the top five causes of death in the United States and that (on average) 23% of the population smoke cigarettes every day as reported by the county health rankings.

There are ways to counteract improper nutrition, lack of physical activity and tobacco use. The NSW 14 objective is to increase the variety and contribution of vegetables to the diets of the population (over two years of age) and influence the leading health indicator. The objective for the physical activity is to reduce the proportion of adults who show incidence of high total blood cholesterol through aerobic physical activity and muscle strengthening. Finally, the objective for TU 1.2 is to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young adults and others as well as to reduce the rate of cigarette smoking by adults (TU 1.1).

Planning for these objectives will provide a number of different methods for accomplishment. One method for attracting attention to the objectives is through planning a local health fair day at the community or a community center. The event could be touted as a day of learning to live healthy. A health fair such as this one has the capability of reaching a lot of people all at once, especially if it was hosted in a fun type of environment. Community volunteers and nurses could hand out brochures and discuss obesity, physical fitness, proper nutrition and kicking the smoking habit.

The brochures could include a list of the various health care facilities.....

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