COMMUNITY HEALTH EPIDEMIOLOGY

Community Health Epidemiology

Community Health Epidemiology

Introduction

Epidemiology comprises steps that guide investigators from a group of sick individuals to the source of their sickness. Following an illness back to its source is called a trace-back, and public health epidemiologists conduct trace-backs in cases of chemical poisonings, water contamination, and food-borne infection outbreaks. Toxins originate from two types of sources: point sources or area sources. Point sources consist of single identifiable sites, such as a factory, a landfill, a discharge pipe, or a nuclear power plant. Area sources put toxins into the environment from numerous origins, such as vehicle emissions, seepage into aquifers, or waste disposal along a 100-mile stretch of river.

Medical epidemiology seeks to address all of these variables by using probabilities rather than discrete numbers. Over time, doctors learn about disease by studying the epidemiology of a disease within large populations. The final diagnosis of disease arises from a collection of clues from symptoms, test results, family histories, and physical examinations that a doctor uses to identify the disease (Blazer, 2002). Medicine may be considered an evolving field because the effects of disease vary from person to person and because science constantly expands with new information about the environment, yet it depends in large part on intuition and observation.

Assessing the strengths and those that should improve in a given community is an important first step planning a service project effectively (Kennedy, 2009). By devoting time to in- formed on the problems of the community, the club may discover new opportunities for service initiatives undertaken and avoid unnecessary issues to be addressed. Assessing the community is a very important and valuable strategy that one can use to get a clear and transparent picture of one's community.

Community

In this report, I will discuss my findings in the process of community assessment of Los Angeles community. Los Angeles community is located in the state of California. The total area of Los Angeles is 469.1 sq miles. The per capita income of the city is $ 26,096. US census bureau statistics 2009 shows that the total population of Los Angeles is 3,831,868 (City Data Centre, 2010). Los Angeles is the capital city of California in America. It is amongst the most thickly settled city of State of California and is second biggest city of USA. In the start, of the 20th century, a great deposit of gas was discovered in Los Angeles and after that Los Angeles had, went through a time of immense prosperity.

Demographic and Epidemiological data

According of the U.S. Census Bureau 2009, the total population of Los Angeles is 3,831,868. The density of population in the city is 8,169 persons per square mile. Statistics show that cost of living index (CLI) in Los Angeles is 134.9, which is significantly higher than the U.S. average of 100 CLI. Proportion of demographics according to race of people living in the city is as follows.

Hispanic - 1,863,460 (48.6%)

White alone - 1,109,298 (28.9%)

Asian alone - 411,112 (10.7%)

Black alone - 360,256 ...