Demographics and Population Health 1

Demographics and Population Health for San Bernardino County

HSCI 301
Yasmine Franco

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Race is a social construct, meaning that it was made up by society and then it was
implemented into several different parts of society in order to classify people into categories
based mostly on physical appearance and where they were born. Genetically and biologically,
there is no difference between human beings and there are no markers to determine this concept
of race. This classification also came with other determinants such as ethnicity and culture.
Ethnicity is what groups a people together based on things such as geographic origins, familial
patterns, religion, language, and morals, values, or beliefs. Culture is what makes us who we are,
individually, or as a group. Culture consists of art, music, knowledge, and customs. It is very
similar to ethnicity, only culture can be changed and learned as it passes from generation to
generation.
In San Bernardino County there are various amounts of race and ethnic groups.
According to the Census website, whites make up about 77% of San Bernardino County.
Hispanics or Latinos make up about 51.7% of San Bernardino County. Other groups reported are
Black/African American, which make up 9.5%, and Asian, which make up 7.3%. Persons under
the age of 18 make up the biggest population in San Bernardino County at about 27.2% and from
a gender perspective, the female population is larger than the male population estimating at about
50.2%. Most of San Bernardino County is also made of family households (76.1%). Married
couple families make up about 52.4% of the County, and people who are 18 years or younger
and have their own children make up 38.9% of the County. Presumably, those in family
households or in married-couple families could lead to better health outcomes compared to those
18 and under persons with children. Teen pregnancy is usually more prevalent in teens coming
from a lower socioeconomic status, for example, which usually leads to more negative health
outcomes.

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According to the County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health website, the top
five diseases reported for the county for February of 2011 were chlamydial infections, RSV,
Hepatitis C (Carrier), lapse of consciousness, and gonococcal infections. The most affected age
group for chlamydial infections are persons between ages 20-24. For Hepatitis C the ages most
affected are persons between 45-54. For gonococcal infections, specifically gonorrhea, the ages
most affected are those between the ages 20-24.
The median household income for San Bernardino County is about $54,090 compared to
that of Californias median household income of $61, 094, is not drastically different, but it is
still lower. According to the County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health, this data
derived from Population Estimates, the American Community Survey, the Census of Population
and Housing, and others. Despite this average median household income for San Bernardino
County, the data and statistics depicted on the disparities charts for the County show that overall,
San Bernardino County is doing quite well.
Referring back to the County website, the disparities charts help depict several types of
information such as adults with health insurance by age, gender, and race/ethnicity, as well as,
children. Other information like people with a usual source of health care are also depicted. The
data on these charts show that an overall average of 74.3% of adults in San Bernardino County
have health insurance. Of these adults with health insurance, 79.1% females have insurance, and
69.5% of males have insurance- both of which are high percentages. The race/ethnicity with the
most insured people are, as depicted by the data chart, American Indian/Alaskan Natives. About
89.2% of American Indians and/or Alaskan Native adults have health insurance in San
Bernardino County. Depicted in red markers on the Community Dashboards are those whose
Countys numbers are in the worst percentile (in comparison with other counties). An example of

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this is, adults with health insurance. The marker for this is in the worst percentile at 74.3%, and
to get to the best percentile, the rate must be at 78.7%. Healthy People 2020 has a target
percentage of 100.
Emergency department use varies from county to county. Specifically referring to San
Bernardino County, the use seemed to be an average number compared to the rest of the counties
in California. The lowest number for a county was 18.7 per 100 population and the highest being
55.1 per 100 population. San Bernardino County measured out at 29.1 per 100 population. After
reviewing the data, San Bernardino Countys numbers medial compared to the rest of
Californias counties. One of the most shocking pieces of data states that San Bernardino County
has 186.3 doctors per 100,000 population. This is a generally small number for such a large
county, as it is the largest county in the United States, while San Francisco County has about 808
doctors per 100,000. This may very well be due to differences in population, but it is something
to be taken into consideration that may also be due to lack of hospitals and clinics in San
Bernardino County.