Case Study Cities and Communities: Quality of Life Indicators Background for the Assignment Social demographers, social/medical epidemiologists, urban sociologists, politicians, and other researchers have long had a concern the structure, function, current state and viability of urban spaces.  One way such researchers have examined urban spaces is to gather data (or review data) based on the application of local quality of life indicators.  Local quality of life indicators evolved from economic indicators and social indicators, and can be divided into two types: objective indicators and subjective indicators.  Objective indicators measure actual events such as the occurrence of crime, unemployment rate; subjective indicators measure attitudes about events (e.g., such as crime).  Local quality of life indicators can be used as a method for: (1) describing the current state of an urban space; (2) evaluating the current state of the urban space; and (3) prescribing changes for local conditions that are determined to be detrimental to residents of the urban space.   Instructions: The Required City and Country is Kingston, Jamaica In order to complete this assignment, you are required to select a city in a developing or developed country (Which is going to be Kingston, Jamaica) and analyze the geographical space based on select local quality of life indicators.  There are seven categories of quality of life indicators and a “General Population Demographics” category, which is mandatory. In addition to describing the population demographics of the city, select three categories of quality of life indicators and conduct research to answer the questions for each category. The list of questions is intended as a guide. Some questions will be more easily answered than others. Locate sources for as many indicators as you can that provide a comprehensive assessment for that quality of life dimension. Your tasks will be to answer questions based on the indicators that you have selected.  Next, based on your research, (1) describe the current state of the city; (2) evaluate the current state of the city; and (3) prescribe changes for local conditions that are determined to be detrimental to residents of the city.    This assignment will require you to be resourceful in order to gather data to complete the assignment.  You may have to gather data (via the Internet) from a variety of sources, including local planning agencies, political and economic institutions, health/medical institutions, financial institutions.  Be sure to use the proper citations and format when documenting your sources. Select Quality of Life Indicators Instructions:           When completing this assignment, please consider the following questions to answer based on each indicator. Required  General Population Demographics (mandatory for assignment)  (1) What is the total population of the city? (2) What is the breakdown of the population based on race/ethnicity, gender, and age.  Then ...

1. Case Study
Cities and Communities: Quality of Life Indicators
Background for the Assignment
Social demographers, social/medical epidemiologists, urban
sociologists, politicians, and other researchers have long had a
concern the structure, function, current state and viability of
urban spaces. One way such researchers have examined urban
spaces is to gather data (or review data) based on the
application of local quality of life indicators.
Local quality of life indicators evolved from economic
indicators and social indicators, and can be divided into two
types: objective indicators and subjective indicators. Objective
indicators measure actual events such as the occurrence of
crime, unemployment rate; subjective indicators measure
attitudes about events (e.g., such as crime).
Local quality of life indicators can be used as a method for: (1)
describing the current state of an urban space; (2) evaluating the
current state of the urban space; and (3) prescribing changes for
local conditions that are determined to be detrimental to
residents of the urban space.
Instructions: The Required City and Country is Kingston,
Jamaica
In order to complete this assignment, you are required to select
a city in a developing or developed country (Which is going to
be Kingston, Jamaica) and analyze the geographical space based
on select local quality of life indicators. There are seven
categories of quality of life indicators and a “General
Population Demographics” category, which is mandatory. In
addition to describing the population demographics of the city,
select three categories of quality of life indicators and conduct
research to answer the questions for each category. The list of
questions is intended as a guide. Some questions will be more
easily answered than others. Locate sources for as many
indicators as you can that provide a comprehensive assessment

2. for that quality of life dimension.
Your tasks will be to answer questions based on the indicators
that you have selected. Next, based on your research, (1)
describe the current state of the city; (2) evaluate the current
state of the city; and (3) prescribe changes for local conditions
that are determined to be detrimental to residents of the city.
This assignment will require you to be resourceful in order to
gather data to complete the assignment. You may have to
gather data (via the Internet) from a variety of sources,
including local planning agencies, political and economic
institutions, health/medical institutions, financial
institutions. Be sure to use the proper citations and format
when documenting your sources.
Select Quality of Life Indicators
Instructions:
When completing this assignment, please consider the
following questions to answer based on each indicator.
Required
General Population Demographics (mandatory for assignment)
(1) What is the total population of the city?
(2) What is the breakdown of the population based on
race/ethnicity, gender, and age.
Then select 3 of the following 9 “Quality of Life” indicators:
Education
(1) What is the literacy rate of the population?
(2) How many citizens obtained a high school diploma?
Attended college? Earned at least one academic degree?
(3) What is the percentage of high school graduates accepted
into college?
(4) What is country’s educational ranking (e.g., in terms
mathematics, science, knowledge of history or geography).
(5) What are the costs associated with education (e.g., cost per
pupil, facility modernization, average pay for teachers and
staff)
(6) What are some salient problems of the educational

3. institution (e.g., dropout rate; school violence, teachers leaving
the profession)
Economics/ Employment
(1) What is the annual average income for workers?
(2) What are the bases of the economy (i.e., service, technology,
manufacturing, information, finance)
(3) What is the unemployment rate? (generally and by specific
categories of potential workers)
(4) Who are the major employers in the city?
(5) Has the locality been affected by the closing of a major
employer or the addition of a large employer?
Type of Governance/Public Service Delivery
(1) What type of local government structure exist in the city
(e.g., manager-council; mayor and council)
(2) How many complaints have been filed against a local agency
or local government.
(3) Are there problems with the service delivery of the
municipality?
(4) Are there proposals to improve or change public service
delivery?
(5) What are the names of prominent elected officials?
Health/Well Being
(1) How many hospitals exist in the city?
(2) How many citizens have attempted or committed suicide?
(3) What are the morbidity and mortality rates of residents?
What is the fertility rate?
(4) Is there a problem with the un-insured (e.g., access to health
care and related services).
Housing
(1) What is the average age of the housing stock in the city?
(2) What is the median assessed value of single family homes in
the city?

4. (3) What is the vacancy rate of an area due to abandonment or
vacancy?
(4) Are there major housing construction projects being
implemented?
Personal Income
(1) How is income distributed? (e.g., percentage of workers in a
particular economic class)
(2) What is the average gross income of workers/residents in the
city?
(3) Have there been any recent changes in either Question 1
and/or Question 2?
Transportation
(1) How many traffic accidents have occurred based on sample
of the population?
(2) How many modes of transportation are available to residents
of the city?
(3) Is funding for transportation aided by toll roads, gasoline
taxes?
(4) Are there major transportation construction projects being
considered in the present or future?
Public Safety, Crime and Justice
(1) What are the types of crimes which occurred?
(2) What is the size of the local law enforcement agency?
(3) Are local judges elected or appointed to the bench?
(4) What type of court systems exist in the municipality?
(5) What is the incarceration rate?
Land Use/Recreation
(1) How many parks are located in the city?
(2) How many golf courses are located in the city?
(3) How many miles of trails are located in the city?
(4) Are local sports teams located in the city?
(5) Are local/major sporting events held in the city?

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Week 5
Access to Care and Resource Allocation
In Week 1, you reviewed concepts such as
distributive justice as an ethical principle.
Some
ethicists would argue that healthcareis a right,
and it should not be administered from
merely a business perspective. Regardless of
your perspective, as a healthcareexecutive,
you must give priority consideration to the issues of
access to care and resource
allocation. You, as an executive with major
decision-making responsibilities, have the
responsibility of stewardship of the resources
(financial, human, facilities, etc.) that have
been given to the organization through various
stakeholders. You will need to balance the

6. sustainability and viability of your organization against
its core mission to provide
healthcareservices to your client populations—some of
whom may have difficulties paying
for such services. According to the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (2018),
healthcareexpenditures are nearly 18% of the U.S.
gross domestic product (GDP), which
is higher than any othernation in the world. In
spite of the high percentage of healthcare
spending, many lack access to care due to several
factors, including inadequate or no
insurance coverage, inability to pay, lack of
transportation, or lack of language translation
services persist. Although the economy has grown
sincethe recession in 2008, it is still
stabilizing. To this end, it is important that limited
resources be allocated in as responsible
a manner as possible.
The Patient Protectionand Affordable Care Act
(PPACA) has threecore objectives: “(1)
the dual goal of improvingthe quality of health
care and lowering costs, (2) increasing
access to health care, and (3) providing greater

7. consumer protection in health care”
(Fitzgerald, Bias & Gurley, 2017, p 28). The
PPACA is responsible for helping decrease
the
number of uninsured nonelderly Americans from 44
million in 2013, to less than 28
million at the end of 2016.
Be sure to review this week's resources carefully.
You are expected to apply the
information from theseresources when you prepare
your assignments.
References:
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2018).
National health expenditure data:
Historical.
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Books and Resources for this Week
Davis, D. C., Davis, S. W., & Schmelzle, G.
(2013). The impact of various accounting

8. approaches on U.S. healthcare
reimbursement systems: Ethical...
Link
Harrison, K. L., & Taylor, H. A. (2016).
Healthcare resource allocation decisions
affecting uninsured services. Journal of
Health Organization and...
Link
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2018).
Compare proposals to replace the Affordable
Care Act.
Link
Scheunemann, L. P., & White, D. B. (2011).
The ethics and reality of rationing in
medicine. Chest, 140(6), 1625–1632.
Link
Week 5 - Assignment: Recommend Health
Reform Changes
Assignment
Due July 21 at 11:59 PM
Fitzgerald, M. P., Bias,T. K., & Gurley, C. T.

9. (2017). The Affordable Care Act
and consumer well-being: Knowns and unknowns.
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 51(1), 27–
53.
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The Patient Protectionand Affordable Care Act
(PPACA) was passed into law
in 2010 as part of an ongoing effort to reform
healthcareat the national level. However,
therehave been policymakers who wanted to repeal
the law, citing increases in taxes,
penalties for those who do not have insurance

10. coverage, and considerable decreases in
employer-group enrollments. Other policymakers
have argued that a full repeal is
unnecessary and that only parts of the law need
revising. As a healthcareexecutive,you
have a vested interest in the future of
healthcarereform.
You will select a subject that has been proposed
for replacement in the PPACA. You will
then draft a letter to a senator or
congressperson from your district or to someone
serving
on the Subcommittee for Healthcare, recommending
changes to the particular portion of the
PPACA that you selected.
Length: between 3-5 pages (not including reference
page). It should be in letter format,
with
the appropriate honorific for the U.S. senator or
representative.
References: Include a minimum of 3 scholarly
resources to support the content of the letter.
Upload your document and click the Submit to
Dropbox button.