Bakersfield City, California

Harwinder Singh
November 22, 2022
NRS/428
Bakersfield
 Bakersfield city is located 180 km north of Los Angeles, 443
km southeast of Sacramento.
 The city is in south-central California and in San Joaquin
Valley.
 Bakersfield has a population of 403, 455 people according to
2020 census.
 The whites form the largest ethnic group at 61.08%, other races
include African American and Asian.
 Religions in the city include Christianity, Hinduism and Islam
 81% of Bakersfield population has high school education or
higher (TownCharts, n.d.).
Bakersfield

 Phenomenological features of Bakersfield is country music and

several recording artists.
 Social aspects – Trick Doggin, Yoga and Dancing competitions
 Common interests include improving economic wealth, health,
and education statuses of the members (Ni et al., 2018).
 Bakersfield
 Social determinants of note
 Coping/stress factor is an issue to note in Bakersfield.
 Stress is led by high cost of living and homelessness.
 In 2022, over 1600 people were reported to be homeless (McClure, 2022).

 Barriers and challenges

 Challenges facing people in Bakersfield include homelessness and drug

abuse.

 The challenges contribute to mental problems such as stress.

Value/Belief Pattern

 Bakersfield community embrace positive values such as

integrity and compassion.

 Bakersfield has different religious beliefs.

 49.4% of people in the city are religious.

 Common religious beliefs include Catholic (30.2%), Judaism

(0.1%), and Islam (0.5%)

(TownCharts, n.d.).
Health Perception/Management

 Bakersfield has tried to improve their healthcare system.

 This is demonstrated by various vaccinations and

immunizations programs.

 They have the Kern County Public Health Immunization

Program that help children and adults in the area.

 Some of the diseases that are controlled through immunization

include tuberculosis and communicable infections.
 Nutrition/Metabolic
 The cost of living in Bakersfield is 24% lower compared to the
state average (TownCharts, n.d.).

 The city is considered among the 4% of most expensive cities

in the world (TownCharts, n.d.).

 Therefore, affording basic products such as food materials is a

challenge.

 People have to work hard to afford balanced diet meals.

 Common meals include tacos, sandwiches, and French fries.

Elimination
 The city has a reliable system of handling waste.

 The city has recognized bodies that deal with wastes.

 The groups include Solid Waste Division and Mt. Vernon

Green Waste Recycling & Composting Facility.

 The group help in classifying waste to those that can be

recycled or reused (Soares, 2022).

 Individuals such as house owners pay for their gabages.

 Activity/Exercise
 Bakersfield City has established fitness studios that are located
throughout the town.

 Example of such studios is Yoga Six and Fit Zone.

 They engage their people in Yoga, boot camp, aerobic activities

and weight lifting.

 The primary initiative is to maintain healthy mind, body, and

souls.

 The activities are also designed to help people remain fit to be

able to fight diseases.
Sleep/rest

 People in Bakersfield sleep around six hours per day.

 Short resting time is contributed by work demand and high cost

of living.

 Community members have to handle two or three jobs to meet

their financial needs.

 Conditions such as fatigue and stress have been attributed to

disruption during resting or sleeping.
Cognitive/Perceptual
 Literacy level in Bakersfield is high.

 81% of Bakersfield population has high school education or

higher.

 High literacy level is to cope with competition in the job

market.

 People with higher education easily secure well-paying jobs.

 They are also promoted in their job positions.

Self Perceptions/Self Concepts

 The courage to continue working hard in Bakersfield is led by

the high cost of living.

 Fear for poverty make community members to continue

working.

 Additionally, there are counselors and spiritual leaders that

offer support to people with different life challenges.

 Members deal with issues of low self-esteem by remaining

active in activities such as physical exercises.
Role/Relationship

 The high cost of living in Bakersfield affects the family sizes of

the residents.

 Most people in the region embrace traditional family structure

(father, mother, and children)

 There are also few non-traditional families (single parent

families) (Rios, 2018).

 In this families, fathers are the head and they are mandated to
make rules and divide duties.
Sexuality/Reproductive
 Bakersfield has a birth rate of 7.0%

 However, the birth rate in the city is reported to have declined

with 13% from 2015.

 The decline in birth rate is led by health campaigns advocating

for family control methods.

 Community members are also largely held by their jobs, hence

they have no time to take care of children.

(TownCharts, n.d.).
Coping/Stress

 As mentioned earlier, Bakersfield has common stressors such

as job security, income level, and illnesses.

 However, the residents have competent ways of coping with

stress.

 They seek help psychological councilors and religious leaders.

 They are also active in physical exercises.

Summary of Interview

 The healthcare provider has been crucial in Bakersfield

community.
 The provider ensures people are helped to fight common
diseases such as lifestyle conditions.
 The provider is positive about the state of health in the
community.
 He reported that the quality of health in the area has been
improving for the past few years.
Health Promotion Opportunity

 Health promotion opportunity identified is to form centers to

deal with mental health.

 Many people are reported to suffer from stress.

 Health parity laws should be strengthened in the city.

 This will ensure people with mental problems are covered by

their insurances.
Summary

 Major problem identified in the area is stress.

 People are stressed due to their job securities and sources of

money.

 At-risk groups are those that are jobless

 Potential people to suffer from stress are school dropouts.

 Apart from stress, the city is also shown to have common cases
of lifestyle conditions such as obesity.
Reference Slide
 TownCharts. (n.d.). Bakersfield, California Demographics Data.
https://www.towncharts.com/California/Demographics/Bakersfield-city-CA-Demographics-
data.html

 Soares, T. (2022). Population Growth vs. Landfill Capacity vs. Recycling Mandates in
California Counties.

 Ni, W., Colayco, D., Hashimoto, J., Komoto, K., Gowda, C., Wearda, B., & McCombs, J.
(2018). Reduction of healthcare costs through a transitions-of-care program. The Bulletin of the
American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, 75(10), 613-621.

 Rios, D. (2018). Black Yields: Race, Space, Labor and Working Class Resistance in
Bakersfield, California, 1960-1974. University of California, Merced.

 McClure, A. C. (2021). Suitable California Opportunity Zone (COZ) Locations for Affordable
Housing Development in the Cities of Bakersfield, Los Angeles, and Palmdale (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Southern California).