Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Randolph County 1
Several different methods were used to collect primary data for this community health
assessment. A windshield tour of Census tract 315.03 was first conducted .Observational data
and field notes were hand recorded as we observed the physical condition and resources of the
interviews with several different resident community members and community leaders of
Randolph County. It is important that both formal and informal leaders are used as participants in
this process because it helps you see who the major influences in a community are and how they
serve as a voice or advocate for the community. The knowledge that is gained by engaging with
community members and leaders really opens your eyes to the culture of the neighborhood and
its residents. When looking for people to interview, it was necessary to find those that actually
lived in the areas that we visited to ensure that the data provided is sufficient and comes from a
credible source that really knows the community and how it operates on a daily basis. For each
interview conducted, we introduced ourselves as either the interviewer or note taker, if present.
The introduction included our names, followed by a formal handshake, a brief description of why
we were there, the purpose of the questions that we would be asking, and explained how the
Secondary data was collected by gathering information from studies that were previously
conducted on Randolph County. Analysis for this report also includes statistical findings on a
state level as well as peer counties to help compare health concerns of different regions.
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Appendix B: Map
The city of Archdale in Randolph County is home to a small population of people. There
are many fast-food restaurants and gas stations for the traveler who is just passing through. The
community in tract 315.03 is a small town located in the heart of Archdale, with a population of
3,011 people. You are never far from a church home; Ashland Street Baptist Church and Church
of the Nazarene are about 5 minutes away from each other. If you moved to Julian Avenue, you
might live next door to someone who has lived on that very street their entire life, or you could
move further down on Ashland Street where newcomers into the community have made their
home. However, you don’t see as many people out and about on Ashland Street, Barrett Drive or
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Balfour Drive, which might be due to new community members and their lack of relationships
with one another.There are also diverse socioeconomic needs of the community tract. On Julian
Avenue, the streets are in need of repair and the houses are old, worn-down and some are in need
of repair. The grass on people's front lawns is allowed to grow high and some lawns are littered
with old furniture and various pieces of garbage. However, on Ashland Street, houses appear less
worn-down, decorated and possibly newer. Lawns are cut very low and there is virtually no trash
in sight.
One of the gifts of this community is that individuals of varying economic status,
academic level and sometimes cultural background, are able to live together in the same
neighborhood without much conflict. The stark differences in community quality and attitudes is
probably due to its socioeconomic diversity. Although Randolph County appears to have ample
resources, there must not be equal access in obtaining these resources and it is affecting the
community. The High Point bus route is the only bus that individuals in this community have
access to and there are no bus stops near this community tract. While garbage remains piled up
on the streets of lower Julian Avenue, higher Julian Avenue must receive more frequent visits
from the sanitation department because they do not have an abundance of trash on their streets.
The proximity of Randolph County’s resources, such as the police department, elementary
school, library, drug rehabilitation services and healthcare services are fairly close if you have a
car. Although most houses in this community tract seem to have at least one car in the driveway,
that does not mean someone in that household does not also rely on public transportation.
Although, residents do have the option of walking, the community’s absence of sidewalks and
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lack of crosswalks makes traveling by foot very dangerous. This can especially be seen when
you have to cross over North Main Street, a very busy street that runs through the middle of
Archdale, to get to Balfour Drive, where a lot of the community’s resources are located.
Based on the information from the socio-demographic profile, the ethnicity of the
majority of the individuals in Census tract 315.03 and in Randolph County are White. The age of
most people within this community is between 40 and 59 years old, followed by the age group of
25 to 39 years old. Another interesting aspect of this profile is that about half of the community
members that reside in Census tract 315.03 rent homes, while the majority of individuals in
North Carolina own homes. For individuals between 25 and 34 years old, about 17% have a
Bachelor’s Degree or higher, which is the highest percentage of any other age group in the city
of Archdale. Another socio-demographic factor was the unemployment rate for men and women
in Randolph County, which is equal to the total unemployment rate for men and women in North
Carolina. Due to the importance of education in maintaining a safe and healthy society, as well
as an informed workforce, the aspects of educational attainment and employment will be detailed
Educational Attainment
The information provided in Table 4, represents the number and percentage of residents
at the local, county, and state level of North Carolina in relationship to age groups and
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educational attainment. According to the Census Bureau, the age group 18 to 24 years in
Randolph County (19.8%), did not obtain a high school diploma. In comparison, Archdale
superseded North Carolina (16.10%) as a whole with a 12.5% rate. Oddly, studies show that
Wake County (15.0%) had a much higher percentage in bachelor’s degrees than neighboring
county Randolph (4.8%) between year 2010-2014. Randolph County continued to decrease in
educational attainment. The table indicates that 35% of population received their high school
diploma and only 20% pursued some college but did not complete college in order to receive a
higher degree. Education plays a major role in both employment opportunities and income. In
most cases, those with higher levels of education are able to gain a sufficient amount of income
Table 1.
Census Bureau
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The following tables compare employment/unemployment rates and gender for the
following locations: Archdale, Randolph County, Wake County, and North Carolina. After doing
intense searching for information on census tract 315.03, there was no specific data that could be
found on employment. Therefore, for the purpose of comparing numbers, data on the entire city
of Archdale was used in this summary. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of
Archdale in 2014 had an employment rate of 80.9% for males and 69.4% for females. These
rates were similar for Wake County, with 82.2% for males and 70.7% for females. Archdale had
a higher employment rate than its home county of Randolph, whose rates were 72.9% and 64.5%
respectively. The overall employment rates for the state of North Carolina were also somewhat
lower, with 71.0% for males and 64.7% for females. Regarding unemployment, Archdale had the
lowest rate of 6.0% for males, while Wake was not too far behind with 6.4%. Females had a high
rate of unemployment in Archdale at 9.5%, which is close to North Carolina’s rate at 9.7%. In
relating this information to public health, there can be difficulty accessing healthcare due to the
prevalence of unemployment in these areas. This can include basic doctor visits, prenatal care,
and oral care, for example. Unemployment rates can have a negative impact on the health of the
individuals in Randolph County, which can be seen in the high rates of obesity in the Randolph
Table 2.
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Table 3.
The Randolph County health profile indicates a comparison of health statistics between
Randolph County, Wake County, and North Carolina. The profile includes four major categories
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including: Leading Causes of Mortality, Birth Statistics, Cancer Incidence Rates, and Health
Indicators. Two of the greatest causes of mortality are heart disease and cancer. Mortality caused
by heart disease accounts for 184.4 deaths per 100,00 population thus it is the leading cause of
death (North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, 2011-2015). Cardiovascular Disease and
Diabetes are the two major health indicators mentioned within the Randolph County health
Profile. Cardiovascular Disease is the number 2 cause of death in randolph county (Randolph
County Community Health Assessment). Diabetes accounts for a rate of 23.1 per 100,000
persons in Randolph County (cdc.gov). Birth Statistics is specifically referring to rates of Low
Birthweight Births. Cancer Incidence Rates includes: Colon, Lung, Female Breast, and Prostate.
Birth Statistics and Cancer Incidence Rates are two of many vital topics of the Randolph County
health statistics in which will be discussed in further details in the following paragraphs.
Low birth weight is the percentage of live births with newborns weighing less than 2500
grams. Thus, live births with babies weighing 5 lbs. and 8 oz. or less are considered low birth
weight babies (County Health Rankings 2016). The total number of low birth weight babies born
(expressed as number of live births) in Randolph County, North Carolina is 967. The rate for low
birth weight (expressed as percentage of live births) in Randolph County is 8%. The total number
of low birth weight babies born (expressed as number of live births) in Wake County, North
Carolina is 7,132. The rate for low birth weight (expressed as percentage of live births) in Wake
County is 8%. The total number of low birth weight babies born (expressed as number of live
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births) in the state of North Carolina is 10,509. The rate for low birth weight (expressed as
Table 4.
In Randolph County, the total incidence rate for all cancer types is 537.2 per 100,000
population, (North Carolina Central Cancer Registry, 2015). According to the same source,
female breast cancer has the highest incidence rate (156.1 per 100,000 population) and
lung/bronchus cancer had the highest number of cases (737) out of female breast cancer,
colon/rectum cancer and prostate cancer, (2015). Wake County, in comparison, has a total rate of
471.2 per 100,000 population for incidence rates of all cancer types, (North Carolina Central
Cancer Registry, 2015). The cancer type with the highest rate of incidence in Wake County is
female breast cancer, with the highest number of cases (3,991) also falling
in this type of cancer. Randolph County’s incidence rate for all cancer types is higher than the
incidence rate of North Carolina, which is 483.4 per 100,000 population, (North Carolina Central
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Cancer Registry, 2015). The type of cancer with the highest incident rate in North Carolina is
female breast cancer (157.9 per 100,000 population). Female breast cancer also represents the
cancer with the highest number of cases in the state (45,146) in comparison to colon/rectum
cancer, lung/bronchus cancer and prostate cancer, (North Carolina Central Cancer Registry,
2015).
Table 5.
Discussion
The process of collecting data for this health assessment was described in Appendix A.
One area of significance during this portion of the assessment, was identifying which individuals
were from the city of Archdale during the interviewing process. Though the group met with
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several potential candidates, it soon became apparent, sometimes mid-interview, that the
interviewee wasn’t even from Archdale. This occurred during a few of the interviews. While
speaking with the interviewee, it was revealed that they were not from Archdale. They did,
however, serve on the board at the Chamber of Commerce in Archdale, and so they were aware
Appendix B. included a visual of census tract 315.03, and the city of Archdale was
depicted in a Google map. It was interesting to see a pictorial view of the community that we
interviewed. In Appendix C., the community was described, with information on what was seen
during windshield tours and interviews. Something that stood out in this section was how all
members of the county, despite differences in economic status, and culture, were still able to live
in harmony.
Appendix D. discussed the majority population in Archdale. Going out into this
community, and from secondary research that was conducted, it was determined that the majority
population was white. This became apparent, as interviews were conducted and the community
was explored.
Randolph county, as a whole, had lower rates of individuals having a bachelor’s degree,
at 4.8%. Table 1 compared these statistics to peer county Wake, Archdale, and North Carolina.
Regarding employment, males had a higher rate than females with a 11.5% difference between
the two groups. Males employment rate came out to 80.9%, while females equaled 69.4%. These
rates were consistent compared to Archdale, Wake county, and North Carolina statistics.
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Health issues were discussed and compared to national statistics in Appendix E. Heart
disease, and diabetes are the top two killers in Randolph county. This is similar to state and
national statistics.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Diabetic deaths. Retrieved from
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/CommunityHealth/profile/currentprofile/NC/Randolph/50011
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Diabetic deaths. Retrieved from
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/CommunityHealth/profile/currentprofile/NC/Wake/50011
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Stats of the state of North Carolina. 2016. Retrieved
from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/northcarolina.htm
County Health Rankings. (2016). North carolina health outcome [Data file]. Retrieved from
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/north-carolina/2016/measure/outcomes/37/data
Vital Statistics. (2014). State center for health statistics [Data file]. Retrieved from
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/data/vital/volume1/2013/Vol1_2013_PRT.pdf