Physical Environment in Acer Tech Center

While walking through Acer Tech Center, it appears to be well developed and a generally healthy community. The people of Acer Tech Center are comfortably walking, jogging, riding their bikes and eating lunch outside with their families all throughout the district. However, there are economic differences in Acer Tech Center in comparison to Nightingale square, a wealthier neighboring district. For example, in Nightingale Square, there is much more greenery, a brand-new gas station, parks and recreation, and have sidewalks and buildings that are in much better condition. Although, there are still few abandoned buildings in both districts. It is apparent that Acer Tech Center is not the poorest district, but in comparison to Nightingale Square, Nightingale Square is the wealthier district as evidenced by the better conditions and newer facilities it has as it takes money to keep the community maintained and improved.

In Acer Tech Center there is some greenery spaced out through the district. The area with the most landscaping and greenery is surrounding City Hall with twelve shrubs, twenty small trees with a great amount of grass wrapped around the building. The Community Center has a small amount of grass, sixteen small trees and six shrubs. The Emergency Department has two shrubs and a very sparse amount of grass, with four more big trees down the road. Lastly, there are three big trees down Ashley Road. The Mayor admitted he had plans to add public green spaces to the community as it has environmental benefits, stating “One tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually.” This plan the Mayor has could aid with the pollution throughout Sentinel City.

An article stated that greenery in a community also has health benefits related to mental health, exercise and overall wellbeing (Lee, Jordan, & Horsely, 2015). Because greenery is associated with good exercise habits it is also associated with a decrease in diabetes mellitus type II, overweight, and obesity (Lee, Jordan, & Horsely, 2015). The article also mentions greenery is great to use for people with coronary artery disease as it can be used as a therapeutic space for rehabilitative exercises (Lee, Jordan, & Horsely, 2015).

There are sidewalks all throughout Acer Tech Center that are in good condition for people to use for what they want. For example, there were people walking, jogging, and taking their dogs out for a walk. The availability of sidewalks throughout a community is important for the people as it gives them the opportunity to walk safely to their destinations if they prefer to or if they do not have another mode of transportation. Sidewalks also encourage exercise in the community as there is a designated area for people to walk or jog. An article suggests that sidewalks are important for the community’s health as it can support physical activity which in turn helps reduce and prevent obesity among the people in the community (Pitts, et al., 2014).

The road conditions in Acer Tech Center are good. The road markings are slightly faded but still very clear for drivers to see. Though it appears to be a very safe district, the only thing it seems to be lacking is a crosswalk and a bike lane. Bikers are able to ride on the street in one lane as there are two car lanes, but there is not a designated area for bikers. It is important to have distinct road markings to prevent accidents from occurring. This is the same for bike lanes. Bike lanes are necessary as they give the bikers a designated space to ride in and are more likely to prevent them from getting hit by a motorized vehicle.

There were many protesters at City Hall in Acer Tech Center holding signs that read “Tax the rich”, “It’s not your money”, “Abuse of power”, and “Tax revolt”. During the protest there were officers in the area to control the situation in order to prevent it from getting out of hand. These posters reflect how the people of Sentinel City communicate their ideas. Acer Tech Center has several billboards throughout the district. There is a billboard next to the Community Center advocating against smoking that read, “Save your lungs, save your life”, and another that read “Don’t text and drive”. There is one more billboard that reads “Sentinel City Strikers” which appears to be a billboard for the city’s team. The traffic lights, street lights, and road signs are in good condition which is important for the drivers. If the traffic lights were not fully functioning, it could put the people of Acer Tech Center at risk for motor vehicle accidents.

In Acer Tech Center, there are no houses but there are apartments and condominiums for the residents of Acer Tech Center to live in. There are a few abandoned buildings spread out in the district. These buildings are typically marked on the doors with graffiti, have trash bags and boxes laying outside along their walls. Some of these even have rats walking around them, this could put the community at risk for infestation and other illnesses that are transmitted by rodents.

Health and Social Services

The total population of Acer Tech Center is 168,390. Of that population 19.8% are elderly (65 years and over). Acer Tech Center has the highest amount of elderly population compared to the other districts. Elders desire a life with good health, dignity, economic independence and finally, a peaceful death. They long for care, love and affection. The elderly population is important for the community. They have a long-accumulated knowledge, experience, and wisdom. It is important to have a variety of health services available for the elderly. There are a variety of health services and social services available to the elderly population in Acer Tech Center. Some examples include Elder Abuse Prevention Advocates, nine Elderly Primary Care Clinics, and meals on wheels.

Additional health and social service resources could be built in Acer Tech Center to better improve the lives of the elderly population. These services could include an adult day health center and a home health nursing agency to better serve the elderly population. An adult day health center provides care for the elderly who require assistance or supervision during the day. Adult day health centers can provide a relief for the family or caregivers by allowing them to take care of personal business, work or even relax while having the peace of mind their relative is being looked after. More specifically adult day health centers offer some intensive health, therapeutic and social services for their residents.

Adult day health centers have proven to be beneficial to the elderly population. According to the Adult Day Health Center Participation and Health Related Quality of Life, adult day health center (ADHC) participants reported greater improvements in the quality of life and fewer problems with daily activities as a result of their physical or emotional health support (Schmitt, 531). The inclusion of an adult day health center would be a great addition to the district of Acer Tech Center to further aid the elderly population and their families.

A home health agency in Acer Tech Center could greatly improve the lives of its residents especially the elderly population. Home health nursing provides the opportunity for patients to return to the comfort of their home while continuing medical care. According to the article, Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Life of Home health Care Patients, the participants receiving home health care saw a significant improvement in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living in patients. In the study, they also saw an improvement in quality of life, general health, physical, psychological, and environmental.

The elderly population is very vulnerable. These services are created to better serve their needs. Without these services the elderly population might struggle, live a difficult life, and could eventually lead to death. For example, without an adult day health center the elderly might have to be left at home alone while their caregiver goes to work during the day. This could lead to caregiver strain and potentially, negligence.

Without a home health agency, the elderly population would have to spend more time in the hospital if they are ever hospitalized. Being in the hospital for longer periods of time increases the risks for nosocomial infection, pressure ulcers, falls, and deep vein thrombosis. If a home health agency dedicated to the elderly population was open, they would have the opportunity to continue care in the comfort of their home while receiving the upmost medical attention.

Economics

The economics found within the community of Acer Tech Center, surrounds the population group of rape victims who are frequently women and young females. One of these women shared their reaction and experience as a rape survivor, as well as how she was able to cope with her experience in order to get past it.

Zaira Abdallah chose to share her sexual assault experience, which occurred on the campus 2 years ago. As a result of her sexual assault, she contracted a sexually transmitted disease called trichomonas vaginalis. In order to prevent sexual assaults from affecting other people in or around the campus she proposed a form of intervention. Zaira Abdallah suggested that more lights be installed around the darker areas, as well as an increase the number of police call boxes in every neighborhood in order to create an environment that promotes always being in the sight of the public. Furthermore, according to Tark and Kleck “In particular, actions such as attacking without weapons, struggling, running away or hiding, and trying to attract attention or help appear to reduce the risk of rape completion over 80% compared with nonresistance.” (Jongyeon Tark & Gary Kleck, 2014).

A second form of intervention can be officers who patrol Acer Tech Center regularly. This form of intervention provides protection 24/7, thus intimidating, and deterring criminals while maintaining the safety of the civilians. However, “Taken together, regardless of their reported resources in 2004, in 2011 a large percentage of agencies reported full-time personnel/units and personnel dedicated to rape prevention and stalking on an as-needed basis, and far fewer relied only on policies and procedures or did not officially address the campus issue or task.” (Gillian M.Pinchevsky, 2019). The last intervention that can be offered to victims of sexual assault is stress management class. One resource to this, is the Interfaith church which provides free counseling sessions at many of the neighborhood clinics.

Helping survivors cope with the diverse issues associated or as a result of rape or different types of crime one may be exposed to, allows people to take back the control that was taken from their lives in addition, it provides them with the necessary coping skills needed to continue on with their lives without spiraling downward. As noted by Sagot, the critical path of women affected by family violence in Latin America: Case studies from 10 countries. Violence against Women states that, “women [are] most successful on their critical paths when the institutions [are] genuinely concerned about their welfare, [provide] emotional support and useful information, [respect] them, and [show] a willingness to defend their rights and guarantee their safety (Sagot, M. (2005).”

There are different levels of prevention that include help for victims such as primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The primary prevention includes emergency legal advocacy, shelter and safe soups center and emergency financial advocacy. As opposed to the second prevention level that focuses on group treatment and support, counseling services, and crisis counseling. The tertiary prevention concentrates on telephone contact information, referral, follow-ups and therapy.

Nonetheless, the most common level of prevention used by the survivors is tertiary prevention, which includes telephone contact information and referrals (15%), followed by providing the victims with the resources needed to keep the disease or the infections from continuing to stay in their body and prevent a full recovery at (16%) (Sentinel City 2018). Secondary prevention is therapy (2%), group treatment and support (2%), and crisis counseling (9%) to let the victims get their emotional distress relived and have a clear mind while discussing with a professional about their problems or other going through the same situation (Sentinel City 2018). Finally, primary prevention includes shelter and safe housing (2%) , emergency financial assistance(2%), and emergency legal advocacy(3%) helping supply homing, food, money for medications, hospital services, and having a professional help along the way with your treatment and decide the best choice for a normal life without STD’s (Sentinel City 2018).

Recreation

In Acer Tech Center there are no parks or places to play any sports. The only physical infrastructures in Acer Tech Center that encourages physical activity are the sidewalks throughout the district. Although there are no children playing on the sidewalks, there are adults walking and jogging throughout the district on these sidewalks Acer Tech Center has to offer. The closest gym the people of Acer Tech Center have available to them is in the neighboring district of Nightingale Square. The individuals residing in Acer Tech Center would also have to travel to Nightingale Square in order to play recreational sports such as tennis and basketball. On the other hand, if families wanted to take their children to a park/playground, they would have to travel two districts down to Industrial Heights where they have a playground, next to a school, for the children. Although there are no playgrounds for family activities in Acer Tech, there are picnic tables for families to sit down outside and eat lunch together near the City Center Historic Hotel.

Recreational activities are vital to the health of the community. By having recreational activities available to the community, it provides as a fountain of benefits. For example, in the article “Exercise Training and Recreational Activities to Promote Executive Functions in Chronic Stroke”, they discovered that exercise and recreation program can significantly benefit executive functions in community-dwelling chronic stroke survivors who are mildly cognitively impaired (Liu-Ambrose & Eng, 2015). Also, in Harvard Heart Letter they outlined the benefits of physical activity (Liu-Ambrose & Eng, 2015). Some examples include lowering blood pressure, ease anxiety, improve sleep, and enhance the body’s response to insulin (Liu-Ambrose & Eng, 2015).

The article titled, “Effects of Involvement in Recreational Sports on Physical and Mental Health, Quality of Life of the Elderly,” stated the elderly greatly benefits from the recreational activities as it relaxes their nerves and scared moods, controls the depression and anxiety they experience (Su, Lee, & Shinger, 2014). In addition to soothing their mental health symptoms, the recreational activities assists them with maintaining range of motion in their joints and muscles by participating in recreational sports (Su, Lee, & Shinger, 2014). In essence, the article states that the elderly participation in recreational activities improves their overall quality of life (Su, Lee, & Shinger, 2014).

According to the article titled, “Parks, Recreation, and Public Health Collaborative,” recreation strengthens communities by striving for the goal of increasing physical activity together as a community (Kruger, 2008). Once the community grows accustomed to the recreation, they strive together to maintain the recreational facilities (Kruger, 2008). For example, people of the community will do their best to keep their facilities clean because they appreciate their recreational facility as they use it frequently. Recreation in a community also fosters safety and security amongst the members, as they gain trust in one other after spending time together so often (Kruger, 2008).

Recreation also promotes social bonds, as the article “Recreation for All: Providing Leisure and Recreation Services in Multi-Ethnic Communities” states, recreation allows for various cultures to be exchanged and learn about one another, providing a better understanding of each other (Stodolska, 2015). Recreation also fosters social bonds as families come together to support their children and support each other as well (Stodolska, 2015). For example, if a parent is unable to take a child to their game, one of the other mothers may volunteer too assist the parent and take their child to the game. Ultimately, recreation is an opportunity for individuals to meet new people from the community and form friendships through mutual interests, depending on the activity they are interested in (Stodolska, 2015).

A study by Koo and Lee specifically addressed the effects of recreation on children’s optimism, humor styles and school life adjustment (Koo & Lee, 2015). The study found that children who participated in recreational sports had an increase in confidence and optimism as it reinforces the internal capacity of children making them have the ability to control the face of an environmental crisis (Koo & Lee, 2015). Recreational programs have an effect on the youth’s humor styles by making them closer to their friends and creating a positive atmosphere (Koo & Lee, 2015). Finally, recreational programs assist with the child’s school life adjustment as it enforces good manners and prosocial behaviors (Koo & Lee, 2015).