Community Health Sim Game 1

Community Health Sim Game

Name

Institution

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Community Health Sim Game 2

In the United States, Violence in communities affects millions of people their families,

schools, and society at large every year. Precisely, violence in a community causes significant

physical injuries, death, and mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and post-

traumatic stress disorder to affected victims. At the same time, according to CDC, living in a

community that experiences frequent cases of violent issues is associated with an increased risk

of developing chronic diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Moreover,

violence issues prevent people from engaging in healthy activities such as accessing healthy food

outlets, cycling, walking, or using parks and other recreational spaces. Arguably, violence also

scares and limits people from participating in neighborhood activities such as education,

community work, business, and medical activities. In 2020, violence was the leading cause of

nonfatal injuries and death among young adults, and adolescents aged between 15 to 34.

Importantly, some communities such as black Americans, experience more violence due to social

determinants of health which include; economic instability, inequities in healthcare access,

education poverty, limited housing, discrimination, bias, and systemic racism. Markedly,

community violence also gives rise to subsets of associated violence that negatively impact

schools. The effect of violence in colleges, campuses, elementary schools, and high schools is

usually devastating and it significantly affects students individually as well as learning

environments. For instance, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Sandy Elementary School,

and Santa Fe High school among others are examples of mass violence and school shootings that

our communities and young people have experienced in learning institutions and hence

heightening the perception of public safety in such environments.

The CDC’s Veto violence website provides four avenues to prevent and mitigate violence

in the community. These avenues include; business, education, public safety, and health.

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Concerning these avenues and tokens allocation, I would choose health, education, and business

to have more tokens compared to public safety measure which includes expanding prisons to

accommodate criminals. First, putting tokens on education is an ideal way of preventing and

mitigating violence in school and promoting student safety. Ideally, safety in all schools can be

implemented through the installation of new technological devices such as CCTV cameras, metal

detectors, protection systems, and school-site alarms. School districts across the United States

have employed new technologies to prevent and mitigate criminal acts of violence in their

learning environments (National Institute of Justice, 2017). At the same time, school programs

provide students with learning sessions on substance abuse, violence, risky sexual behaviors, and

other negative behavioral activities that may cause community violence and public safety issues.

Secondly, putting tokens in the health sector to increase the number of health workers

and support public health clinics to prevent closure is an ideal way of preventing and mitigating

violence in the community. The healthcare sector and related activities are primarily linked to

other avenues that aim at addressing violence prevention and mitigation and hence it is crucial to

fund their daily activities and programs. Public clinics offer health services to women, children,

and individuals who have experienced various types of violence such as intimate partner

violence, child abuse, and injuries among others (Colombini et.al., 2022). At the same time,

public health workers provide interaction and educational programs as well as foster care homes

for individuals experiencing abusive environments and hence the need for government support

and funding to prevent and mitigate violence through such facilities.

Thirdly, putting tokens in businesses to increase their ability to hire workers from a

community that experiences violence is another way of preventing and mitigating violence in

communities. Ideally, unemployment and low or lack of income can be categorized under social

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determinants that make young adults and unemployed individuals involve themselves in violent

activities such as robbery, gangs, fighting, bullying, and substance abuse (Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, 2018). In this regard, providing employment opportunities through

investing and funding local employers in a community can provide a chance for them to redeem

themselves and be occupied towards community growth and development. This results in

reduced cases of violent cases related to robbery and drug use. Lastly, investing in public safety

can help a community prevent and mitigate violence by setting up correctional centers for violent

individuals, and increasing the number of security personnel in schools and meeting facilities

such as recreational spaces, faith based-organizations among others.

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References

National Institute of Justice, 2017. Using Technology to Prevent Violence in Schools. U.S.

Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/using-

technology-prevent-violence-schools

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022. Violence prevention. Community Violence

Prevention. U.S., Department of Health &Human Services.

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/communityviolence/index.html

Colombini, M., Mayhew, S. H., Garcia-Moreno, C., d’Oliveira, A. F., Feder, G., & Bacchus, L.

J. (2022). Improving health system readiness to address violence against women and girls: a

conceptual framework. BMC health services research, 22(1), 1-14.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018. Preventing youth violence. Retrieved

from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/yv-factsheet508.pd