Social Determination of Health in California
Statistics about child poverty and poor living conditions
The quality of life and the health of the human population depends on many factors. Some of these factors include income level to afford a healthy lifestyle, educational opportunities, and access to healthcare. Many people have access to healthcare by having healthcare coverage either provided to them by employment or by the government.
Another factor that determines social health is access to healthy food by having supermarkets that promote healthy food. These health factors are determined by measuring mortality rates and premature deaths. In our society, these days, one of the factors that are still affecting the health of people is the COVID-19 virus. There are programs and policies that are set in order to reduce the speared of the virus and prevent further mortality rates.
The community profile summary of Los Angeles county and its social determinants of health are health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Los Angeles County is ranked 21 for health outcomes of 58 counties and 16 lengths of life. Of the length of life, it is ranked 16 and has premature death of 5,000 which was improved from looking at the statistical data from 1997 to 2017. Compared to Marin county which is ranked number 1 in health outcomes and premature death rate of 3,200 which improved according to the statistical graphs in County Health Ranking.
The social and economic factors of Los Angeles include high school graduation rate, unemployment rate, children in poverty, income inequality, violent crime, and injury death. Social and economic factors are ranked 30 of the U.S. states compared to Marin county which is ranked 3 of 58 counties. Child poverty is 20% In Los Angeles county and the unemployment rate is 4.7%.
The child in poverty rate has increased in LA county since 2002 to date. This means that more children are living with poor families and are limited to important resources to live. Food water and access to healthcare are important to living a healthy life and poverty are affecting these children. On the other hand, violent crime has been increasing and is 488 on average per 100,000 crimes. This data has been decreasing from the year 2007 up till 2016 which means that LA county has been getting safer according to the statistics.
The unemployment rate in LA county is 4.7% which has been getting worse from the year 2002 to 2018. This is getting worse and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people lost jobs and applied for unemployment which most of them lost their health insurance from losing their jobs.
Children in poverty need to be addressed since children are the future of our country. There needs to be more awareness and programs to combat poverty in children. Housing and the overall cost of living in LA are high compared to other countries. Children in poverty are 20% in LA county. White children in poverty are 9% compared to 30% for African Americans and 28% for Hispanics. Healthcare organizations need to give more opportunities for financial assistance to families living in poverty. These children shape our society and they need proper care.
References
California. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/california/2020/rankings/los-angeles/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot
