Reflective journal-self appraisal 5

November 2, 2019

The Honorable Rafael Salamanca Jr.

1070 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY 10459

As you probably know, based on the Community Health Profiles in New York City for the year 2018, “In the Bronx, three-quarters of the neighborhoods had a higher five-year average (2011-2015) rate of premature mortality and lower average life expectancy in 2015 compared with citywide averages. Compared with other neighborhoods in the Bronx, Belmont and East Tremont had limited access to healthy food with only one supermarket to 37 bodegas in 2016”. The results of the lack of healthy foods, adequate exercise and pooer air quality in comparison to the rest of the city has resulted in an “… adult obesity rate is 42%, which is higher than the rest of NYC which is at 24%in the combined areas of Melrose and Mott Haven. In addition, in these combined areas the rate of diabetes is 20% in comparision to NYC at 11% and has a rate of hypertension at 38% in comparison to the city’s 28% (Community Health Profiles/Bronx District 1, 2018). One additional parameter which can and should be highlighted that I am sure you are familiar with are the effects of the current “Opioid Epidemic” or Crisis.

As a nursing professional working in the South Bronx, I am a daily witness to the horrors of the Opioid Epidemic. Over the years I have learned that the South Bronx has a long history with heroin addiction with the current epidemic is a continuation of a phenomenon that presents a significant problem in this community. According to a Capstone report compiled by Gonzalez Millan, Lee, Ohlrich and Sarnoff (2018), in the year 2017, there were 298 overdose fatalities involving heroin and/or fentanyl in the Bronx, which is the highest across all five boroughs. This number is very similar for the rate in New York City as a whole. According to NYC Health (2019), in the 1st quarter of 2019, there were 331 overdose deaths in New York City with an estimated death rate of 1 person dying from and overdose every 7 hours. In the South Bronx, high poverty rates, lack of access to services, and the lack of proper education on appropriate treatment models about the matter contribute to Opioid Epidemic in this community (Gonzalez Millan, et al., 2018).

Gonzalez Millan, et al. (2018) make notes that currently, the educational system in New York City while requiring health education classes that include education on HIV/AIDS, it does not have a required module for mental health and drug abuse education for students. As a nurse being trained in health promotion and health prevention methods, the lack of providing an education for children and youth in schools on the dangers of drugs and the role of mental health in human society is a missed opportunity for the possibility of improving current and future outcomes for members in this community.

There are a plethora of programs to choose from nationally and locally which can be modified to meet the needs of a variety of students such as ones offered by Odyssey House and ,Botvin LifeSkills® Training (LST). To note, according to Dr. Riggs (2019), Associate Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy at the University of South Florida there are advantages and challenges depending on who does facilitates the program; mental health professional, law enforcement professional or educational professional. You can read more about these advantages and challenges by visiting the Psychology Today Blog @ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/drugs-and-the-people-who-use-them/201909/school-based-drug-prevention-programs

In ending, a visit to a variety of websites featuring you as a City Council Member in the Bronx’s District 17, alerted my person to the fact that you serve on the Council’s Education Committee. I was delighted with this information because for me it confirmed the appropriateness of me writing you on this issue. I also learned that you grew up in the South Bronx and am delighted to know that you are devoting your life to giving back to a community that you obviously love. If there is anything I can do to assist you in improving the information that is disseminated about drug addiction as a preventive measure at the high school and even elementary school in general and the opioid crisis in specific to youth and their families, I am more than willing to help.

Sincerely Yours,

Rose Sarfo, R.N.