Various aspects of one’s community can either encourage or discourage public health. Accessibility and availability of products, physical characteristics and structures, inaccessible or poorly resourced health services, neighborhood socioeconomics, deteriorated neighborhoods, and the media are all examples of factors that can influence one’s health.
In this study the health of the city of Flint was researched by examining the features and characteristics of zip code areas using a variety of data sources and methodologies, including secondary health and census data, neighborhood drive-thrus and photographs, documenting grocery stores prices, and through mapping neighborhood resources and health data using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Because of the varied nature of the data collected, different data analyses techniques were used.
A focused comparison of 5 health issues in two zip codes showed that no one variable in particular stood out as a major correlate of the health differences between the two zip codes. The data suggest that numerous factors jointly influence the health of the population, including lower income, fewer job opportunities, and less desirable neighborhood environment.
