Place Matters Video Essay Analysis

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please read Chapters 3, 4, and 6, review the Moving Upstream: How Interventions That Address the Social Determinants of Health Can Improve Health and Reduce Disparities Links to an external site.article, and watch the Unnatural Causes: Place Matters Links to an external site.(30 min.) video.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

For your assignment answer the following questions after watching the film, organize your essay in a series of well-structured Body Paragraphs Links to an external site.,making certain to address the following content in an order that effectively develops your ideas (do not use bullet points):(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

• Summarize the Unnatural Causes: Place Matters video in 250 to 300 words.
• When we think about the environment, we usually think about air pollution, water quality, or toxic waste. List other aspects of our neighborhood environments that might also affect our health.
• Describe how the film supports or contradicts the neighborhood factors you listed in the Neighborhood Features Table created in the discussion forum Place Matters this week. What other factors could you add based on the film?
• Explain why some neighborhoods expose residents to factors that are protective of health, while others expose residents to factors that can threaten their health.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)
• Critique public policy and private investment decisions that have shaped the two neighborhoods in the film.
• Hypothesize what could be done to improve these neighborhoods in the future so they better promote residents’ health and wellbeing.
• Review your Neighborhood Features Table from your own space and hypothesize what could be done to improve your community’s health and wellbeing.
• Close with an explanation, in detail, of how your suggestions would improve the health of these neighborhoods (those featured in Unnatural Causes and your own).(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

The Place Matters Assignment paper

• Must be five to seven double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages and formatted according to APA Style Links to an external site.as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word Links to an external site.resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
• Title of paper in bold font
• Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
• Student’s name
• Name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)
• Course name and number
• Instructor’s name
• Due date(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice Links to an external site.resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
• For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions Links to an external site.and Writing a Thesis Statement Links to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least four scholarly sources in addition to the course text.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)
• The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources Links to an external site.table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.
• To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view Quick and Easy Library Research Links to an external site.tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper Links to an external site.guide.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List Links to an external site.resource in the Writing Center for specifications.

Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students

Summary of  the Unnatural Causes: Place Matters Film

Social environments have a significant influence on an individual’s health. Given the Richmond, California, and High Point, Seattle case, the documentary highlights and discusses the association between neighborhood and health. In Richmond, residents still experience a host of social health determinants compared to other neighborhoods, unlike High Point, which enjoys the positive impacts of healthy neighborhoods. In addition, the documentary highlights some proven interventions to achieve healthy neighborhoods.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Neighborhoods are associated with various social health determinants. Notably, violence, poor access to care and quality of care, poor quality and higher housing costs, pollutants, access to tobacco, liquor, and fast food, poverty tax, difficulty finding fresh produce, chronic worry/anxiety, few resources, poor social interactions, and lack of safety in public places are risk factors to various health outcomes. While this is entirely true, social health determinants take a social pattern across neighborhoods, as seen in Richmond, with higher risks of chronic diseases, including heart diseases, cancer, and asthma.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Understanding the determinants of unhealthy neighborhoods is complex. However, the given cases show that government policies and systemic racism play a significant role in determining health. For instance, the government policies after World War II, particularly disinvesting in communities, affected Richmond. As a result, families could not get government-backed mortgages, and social amenities as the neighborhood turned into a shadow of its former self. In addition, African Americans and other people of color were disproportionately affected.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

The government and community agencies are essential in achieving control and addressing health issues. Besides, environmental support is crucial for healthy neighborhoods. For example, high Point, West Seattle, has quality low-cost housing, clean parks, safe streets, access to healthy food choices, and sidewalks that allow lots of social interaction. These conditions justify the role of better housing in low-income communities to mitigate health issues. Generally, a spectrum of strategies is necessary to mobilize communities and front policy changes for healthy neighborhoods.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Unhealthy Neighbourhood Environment

Besides air pollution, water quality, and toxic waste, there are a host of environmental factors that might affect our health. Multiple stressors in a neighborhood include violent crime and safety concerns, lack of social and healthcare amenities, few community resources, lower average income, poor housing conditions, access to unhealthy food and drugs, and lack of social connection (Mohen et al., 2019). Even when basic needs are met, the quality of a neighborhood is a significant determinant of health variations across communities.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Relevance Neighbourhood Factors

The factors highlighted in the film support those listed in the Neighborhood Features Table and provide additional corroboration on the significance of neighborhoods on an individual’s health. Notably, violence, access to healthcare services, and poor housing conditions are key health determinants in a neighborhood (Adelman, 2008). Miliauskas et al. (2022) confirm the direct relationship between exposure to violence in a community and mental health outcomes among adolescents. In addition, Alcaraz et al. (2020) elaborate on the association between barriers to accessing healthcare services and increased poor management of chronic illnesses, the burden of preventable diseases, disability, and premature death. Furthermore,  Rolfe et al. (2020) support the impact of substandard housing on poor health outcomes and risks of cardiovascular diseases. These studies corroborate neighborhood factors’ influences on an individual’s health outcomes.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

However, the film positively contradicts the traditional misconception that health outcomes are primarily individual-level choices. The film reiterates that people usually focus on individual-level risk factors when considering cardiovascular conditions such as diet, physical activity, and smoking, which should not be the entire focus (Adelman, 2008). Williams et al. (2008) also argue that government interventions that focus on direct health issues, such as access and affordability of health care, are not practical considering the broad nature of neighborhood impacts on health outcomes. Other factors, such as community disinvestment, social connections, low income, unhealthy food choices, and drug access, form a host of multidimensional stressors that predispose individuals to poor health outcomes in a neighborhood. These factors suggest that neighborhood environment factors are broad and multifaceted.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Variations in Neighborhood

It is evident that neighborhoods predispose residents to various health factors, some protective and others threatening. Often. Making decisions on mitigating health problems is complicated and requires a spectrum of strategies (Adelman, 2008). Different communities experience different challenges, and the management of these challenges lies on residents and the governments, which in this case, was shown to be ineffective in supporting community development. For instance, in the case of Richmond, the government disinvested in the community following a period of healthy living, leading to many people withdrawing their interest and investments from the neighborhood and increasing the poverty tax. With limited resources, incomes, and consequent violence, it has been challenging for Richmot to achieve its former feet despite the efforts y community leaders.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

On the other hand, High Point, Seattle, challenged the status quo to achieve a healthy status through collective efforts. Ideally, the bottom-up approach to community development is an unpopular opinion and essentially challenging (Ledwith, 2020). Delegating decision-making powers to the local level from governance levels could be futile, considering the limited investment in vulnerable communities. High Point gained its healthy status through community involvement and private partnering, leading to the development of housing plans centered on health. Initially, the support from the government had been phased out, but through additional grants, the community built healthy homes. These outcomes show the importance of community investment and engagement in establishing coalitions and changing relevant policies that recognize healthy communities’ social benefits.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Public Policy and Private Investments

The film highlights various public policy and private investment decisions and their impact on the neighborhoods. For example, in Richmond, the federally granted new home loan policies were discriminative and restricted on a racial basis towards African Americans and other people of color, with only 2% of beneficiaries being non-white  (Adelman, 2008). In addition, the move to disinvest in the community contributed to the withdrawal of most families and businesses from the community, which later became neglected. Contrarily, private investment decisions play a crucial role in establishing healthy communities, as highlighted in the film.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

In High Point, private investors and community participation in housing development were vital in transforming a neighborhood from deplorable to healthy. Coburn & Gormally (2020) show that community involvement is crucial to creating and managing community development projects. However, building homes based on community health needs costs extra dollars. As such, it is crucial for the policymakers who recognize the social benefits of a healthy community and the government to promote affordability so that most low-income families can afford it.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Suggestion for Neighbourhood Improvement

Implementing a community-based, participatory approach to neighborhood revitalization is crucial in promoting better health and well-being for Richmond and High Point residents. Community involvement is critical to creating and managing community projects (Coburn & Gormally, 2020). This approach involves engaging residents, local organizations, and government agencies in the planning and development to address their needs and priorities. This hypothesis aims to comprehensively address access to social amenities, housing conditions, access to healthy food, economic development, violence prevention, and mental health support for a marginalized population.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

The hypothesis is founded on the empowerment of community residents as active participants in the revitalization of the neighborhood, which can lead to improved health and well-being outcomes. Community empowerment involves enabling a group of people who share common concerns, interests, and identities, and their participation at every level of development is crucial for better health outcomes (Haldane et al., 2019). The approach will foster community engagement to discuss their priorities and needs, evaluate these needs, partner with local groups and the government to address the identified problems and establish appropriate plans for addressing specific needs for each neighborhood.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Neighborhood Feature Table Review

Neighborhood factors influencing health outcomes in my neighborhood include violent crime, access to healthcare services, and inadequate and poor housing conditions. Studies have shown that exposure to violent crime is crucial to determining health outcomes (Miliauskas et al., 2022). Exposure to violent crime affects an individual’s physical health through injuries or mental health due to anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders. In addition, studies have shown that inadequate and poor housing conditions expose individuals to risks of developing health complications associated with weather and unhealthy living environment, such as asthma (Rolfe et al., 2020). Furthermore, homeless individuals are exposed to extreme weather likely to cause cardiovascular diseases.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Furthermore, barriers that limit access to health care influence the management and prevention of illnesses (Alcaraz et al., 2020). For example, jobless individuals with low incomes cannot receive quality treatment, while the investment in a community reduces the number of available healthcare services, further exacerbating the situation. Therefore, a top-down, government-led approach to neighborhood revitalization involving government agencies and private organizations working together would help implement targeted interventions to improve the community’s health and well-being outcomes.(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

In conclusion, the top-down approach would bring significant resources and expertise to revitalization. This can quickly address the health and well-being needs of the community. Ideally, government investment in the community in various social aspects, including healthcare, business, infrastructure, employment, and anti-violence campaign, would be ideal in redirecting the trajectory of the community and overall contribute to better health outcomes (Williams et al., 2008).(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

References

Adelman, L., (Creator & Executive Producer). (2008). Episode 5: Place matters [Television series episode]. In L. Adelman (Executive producer), Unnatural Causes. Retrieved from: http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/episode_descriptions.php?page=5

Alcaraz, K. I., Wiedt, T. L., Daniels, E. C., Yabroff, K. R., Guerra, C. E., & Wender, R. C. (2020). Understanding and addressing social determinants to advance cancer health equity in the United States: a blueprint for practice, research, and policy. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 70(1), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21586(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Coburn, A., & Gormally, S. (2020). Defining well-being in community development from the ground up A case study of participant and practitioner perspectives. Community Development Journal, 55(2), 237-257. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsy048

Haldane, V., Chuah, F. L., Srivastava, A., Singh, S. R., Koh, G. C., Seng, C. K., & Legido-Quigley, H. (2019). Community participation in health services development, implementation, and evaluation: A systematic review of empowerment, health, community, and process outcomes. PloS One, 14(5), e0216112. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216112(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Ledwith, M. (2020). Community development: A critical approach. Policy Press.

Miliauskas, C. R., Faus, D. P., da Cruz, V. L., do Nascimento Vallaperde, J. G. R., Junger, W., & Lopes, C. S. (2022). Community violence and internalizing mental health symptoms in adolescents: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 22(1), 253. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03873-8(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Mohnen, S. M., Schneider, S., & Droomers, M. (2019). Neighborhood characteristics as determinants of healthcare utilization–a theoretical model. Health Economics Review, 9, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-019-0226-x

Rolfe, S., Garnham, L., Godwin, J., Anderson, I., Seaman, P., & Donaldson, C. (2020). Housing as a social determinant of health and well-being: Developing an empirically-informed realist theoretical framework. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09224-0(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)

Williams, D. R., Costa, M. V., Odunlami, A. O., & Mohammed, S. A. (2008). Moving upstream: how interventions that address the social determinants of health can improve health and reduce disparities. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 14(6), S8-S17. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.phh.0000338382.36695.42(Place Matters Video Essay Analysis for Nursing Students)