You are on page 1of 5

DEMOGRAPHICS AND POPULATION HEALTH

Demographics and Population Health in San Bernardino County


Caitlin Vaughn
HSCI 301
California State University of San Bernardino

DEMOGRAPHICS AND POPULATION HEALTH


Race and ethnicity was difficult to define, they seem to intersect each other. Race, is a
group of people associating themselves with others with similar characteristics, such as a mixed
race. Ethnicity is when individuals belong to a community that has a common cultural tradition,
language, values, and so on. For example, one can be African-American, meaning that she is a
member of the African race, but she doesnt identify with their ethnicity, she considers herself
American. Culture is overall me, you, the students around us. It is how one identifies themselves.
It is what they believe, value, symbolize, the list goes on.
In San Bernardino County there is a percentage of 51.7 Hispanics or Latinos, which is the
majority of the county. In Race vs. Ethnicity vs. Culture, it stated that Hispanic or Latino is
considered an ethnicity, it includes individuals that are Cuban, Mexican, El Salvadoran, and
furthermore. Individuals that choose white as their race makes up 30.6 percent. Black or AfricanAmerican makes up 9.5 percent. Asians make up 7.3 percent of county, American Indian and
Alaska native 2.0 percent, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.5 percent.
There is a higher percentage of females living in San Bernardino County, females make
up 50.3 percent and males make up 49.7 percent. The ages that occur most are relatively the
same for both genders, ages 10 through 19. I did notice though that there is a higher percentage
of males from the ages under 5 through 9.
There is a percentage of 76.1 of the population that has a family household, which is
higher than Californias percentage of 68.6. This is a good percentage, because most individuals
who participated in the census are living in a household. I noticed that households with just a
male with no wife was 7.3 percent and female with no husband had a percentage of 16.4. My
assumption is that with out two parents in the household it can become a stressful situation for

DEMOGRAPHICS AND POPULATION HEALTH


the adult and the children. Stress could affect an individuals health. It could cause heart disease
or if the children are stressed they could struggle with school, which can lead to other problems.
By looking at the Monthly Morbidity Report I was able to see that the top five diseases
were Chlamydia, hepatitis C, gonorrhea, hepatitis B (carrier), and HIV. The most affected age
group of the diseases chlamydia and gonorrhea were 20 through 24. HIV ages ranged from 20
through 34. For both hepatitis B and C the ages that were most affected were 45 thorough 54.
On the demographic profile it shows that the median household income in San
Bernardino County is $54, 090. Comparing to the state of California their median household
income is $61,094, a difference of $7,004. The county gets this information from the U.S.
Census Bureau. A census is taken every 10 years of the United States population. The survey has
questions regarding sex, age, ethnicity, social and economic characteristics, education, housing,
and health insurance status. On the disparities dashboard, it displayed charts with information
showing who has health care insurance, cancer incidences, infectious disease, socio-economic
status, and disabilities. One of the charts stated that 94.3 of children have health insurance.
Another chart, informs us that there are 25.6 percent children living under poverty. They also
have charts that break it down by age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
The community dashboard displays a list of indicators, next to every indicator there is a
gauge. The red on the gauge represents the worst quartile of the community. For example, under
the indicator nutrition, exercise, and weight. People can choose different categories, one category
I choose was adults who are obese, and there is a 33.2 percent obese in the county. Then there is
a HP 2020 tab and it will show what their target is, which is 30.5 percent.
Generally speaking, San Bernardino County is average on the emergency department use
spread sheet. There are some counties that are higher or lower in the columns. Although, in the

DEMOGRAPHICS AND POPULATION HEALTH


column, clinic visits per 100 populations San Bernardino is 8.5, which is the lowest. This is
surprising because it makes me wonder why isnt our community using the clinics. Some reasons
I thought of is, access to health insurance, transportation, or citizenship status.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND POPULATION HEALTH


Resources
Davis, S., & Hardy, D. (2011). County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health
Morbidity Report.
Healthy San Bernardino County. (2015). Retrieved from
http://www.healthysanbernardinocounty.org/index.php
Public Policy Institute of California. (2015). Emergency Department Use in California Counties.
Retrieved from http://ppic.org/main/dataset.asp?i=868
Ritter, A.L., Nancy, A.H. (2010). Multicultural Health. Sudbusy, MA: Jones and Bartlett
Publishers, LLC.
United States Census Bureau. (2014). State and County QuickFacts. Retrieved from
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06071.html

You might also like