Community Windshield Survey Paper

Community Windshield Survey
Lauren Vadola
Professor Marshall
Community Health Nursing
Chamberlain College of Nursing
January 13th 2014

This study was conducted in the community of Staten Island, a.k.a. Richmond county is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The intention of this survey was to obtain a full assessment through visual observations within the surroundings of the community. There are many variations of the definition of community, recent nursing literature addresses the concept of community by “identifying four defining attributes: people, place, interaction, and common characteristics, interests, or goals. Combining ideas and concepts, in this text, community is seen as a group or collection of locality-based
This community is considered to be a predominantly working, middle class neighborhood with people ranging from children, teenagers, young, and older adults. Majority of the population is white, non Hispanic. However according to the NYTimes, “Young Israel of Eltingville, an Orthodox congregation, has been growing rapidly in the last few years and this summer welcomed a new rabbi, Azriel Blumberg, and his family, who moved here from Queens.”(Fioravante, 2003.) The town is small with a lot of activity due to a popular train stop and multiple bus stops right outside of the train station. Observed at the transportation stops were young teenagers heading to or from school, working adults in business attire, or Hispanic males and females. Another observation I noticed were the females were seen either dropping off their kids to school, or running errands. Throughout the week I continued to observe younger adults, who were walking, exercising or on their way to work; Most people seemed to be in a rush, or on a mission to get things done this portrayed an unfriendliness. Although appearing unfriendly, when you would walk into the local Italian deli, bagel store or pharmacy everyone seemed to know eachother and were seen conversing in a friendly manner. During the day a few senior adults were seen in the area carrying some groceries, pushing baby carriages. Many appeared to be in good health, except the
Among the medical facilities were mental health centers, chiropractors, Radiology center, dermatologists. Many of the offices were old houses made into an office, which makes it appear more personal, and contributes to better quality care. There was also a large YMCA in the center of the town with workout facility, swimming pool, playground, track and a preschool; which appeared to be busy at various times of the day. Next to the YMCA was an additional building, which is a drug counseling facility. It is free to those whom seek treatment for their