Public Housing in South Marrickville is good for reducing homelessness in the community and also bad by confining a mix of low socio-economic groups into a small space.
Large amount of apartment buildings
- These are a benefit to the community’s health by providing low cost accommodation to the community, enabling young families and the elderly to live within their means and budget’s.
- Large apartment buildings also inhibit health by placing a large amount of people in a very small space, it creates tensions, as there is often very little privacy. Also a much larger amount of litter and clutter than would normally be present.
Apartments can improve the local communities’ health by providing affordable housing to young families, single people and the elderly, however placing a large amount of people in a small area can create privacy concerns and littler.
Single family homes
- These benefit the communities’ health by providing a look of higher value and community feel to the area. As well providing cheaper housing than other areas.
- These inhibit health by using a larger land mass allowing for fewer apartments to be built and raising the cost of living in the area.
Single family homes can inhibit health by raising property value and costs to the local area; they also encourage good health by allowing more trees and grassland to the area.
Supermarkets
- Supermarkets contribute to the health of the community by providing fresh food and meals, as well cleaning and sanitation products.
- Community health is inhibited by the supermarkets selling a lot of fattening food including a lot of junk food, and deserts. Easy to cook foods such as microwave meals and deep fried products are often on special.
Supermarkets provide benefit to the community by allowing access to nutritious meals; they also offer cheap fattening foods that vastly inhibit health creating obesity.
Fast food outlets
- Fast food outlets contribute to health by lowering stress levels associated with meal preparation, shopping and associated tasks. Fast food shops include many Thai, Vietnamese, Portuguese chicken, many cafes, 1 subway, and 1 KFC Restaurant.
- Takeaway food providers inhibit the health of the community by creating problems such as heart disease and diabetes associated with the un-healthy food they sell.
- They also inhibit health by creating obesity, encouraging laziness, and further promoting unhealthy lifestyles within the community.
Fast food services can provide benefits to mental health and time management of community members, but in the long run the poor physical health associated with eating fast food will be far greater than that of the short term gains.
Video Shops
- 2 English video shops, 1 Vietnamese and 1 Hindu video shop occupy South Marrickville. Health benefits of entertainment can be vast.
- Specific benefits of the these video stores may include relaxation, amusement, as well as other information and learning contained in a range of movies and video’s
- Videos inhibit the communities health by encouraging people to stay indoors watching TV rather than outside being active in the community.
Video shops contribute to health by providing a safe form of entertainment for members of the community, however, it encourages people to stay indoors and not be active outside, therefore contributing to obesity and other associated health problems.
General Practitioners
- South Marrickville has numerous GP’s including Vietnamese, Hindu, and Chinese.
- Having a large amount of GP’s in the area benefit the community’s health by providing quick easy access to medical professionals.
- Having many GP’s in the community can also inhibit health by allowing people to go ‘doctor shopping’ until they get the diagnosis or drug they are looking for.
Having Many GP’s in South Marrickville provides positive health outcomes for members of the community having good access to medical skills in a range of languages. This can also inhibit health by encouraging ‘doctor shopping’ for those who wish to take advantage for malicious reasons.
Community Services
- Free legal, employment and interpreter services benefit the communities’ health by providing equitable access to professional social services assisting community members with various needs.
- These services could inhibit health by encouraging the use of free services, possibly becoming lazy and developing selfish attitudes towards professional community services.
These Community services benefits the communities health by providing access to professional social welfare advice and assistance, possibly providing this too much, there is a capacity to encourage laziness and selfishness within the community.
Dental Practitioners and Physio Therapists
- These health practitioners benefit the local health by providing professional service to cater for peoples oral and muscular-skeletal health needs in South Marrickville.
- In the area there are approximately 9 Dentists and 4 Physiotherapists with various languages to cater for non English speaking backgrounds.
- These services inhibit health by often being very expensive putting an excessive cost onto people with low incomes, creating stress, anxiety and social concerns.
Dentists and Physios in the local area contribute to local resident’s health by taking care of oral hygiene and muscular-skeletal concerns, although the cost of these are enough to put pressure on families and people with low incomes, creating stress and other socio-economic concerns.
Police Station
- Local police contribute to the communities’ health by fighting crime and making the area safer for local residents.
- The arrogance of police can infringe on the normal day to day lives of ordinary citizens creating feelings of stress and anxiety.
- Police are often not in the right places at the right times allowing crime to continue inhibiting the health of local residents.
Local police provide a safer environment for people in South Marrickville, although, their arrogance and ability to be in the wrong place at the time crimes are taking place will vastly inhibit local peoples health.
Fire Station
- South Marrickville has 1 local fire station that benefits the communities’ health by providing help with fires, electricity and chemical emergencies, and other emergencies outside the scope of police and ambulance.
- Fire trucks inhibit health by creating problems with the tar on the roads by being so heavy, and also the pollution the trucks expire through their mufflers.
The Fire station in South Marrickville promotes health by providing emergency services in situations such as fire, chemical and electrical emergencies, They also inhibit health by creating pollution with their big diesel trucks, and the weight of those trucks also have an affect on the condition of the local roads.
Ambulance station
- The one ambulance station in South Marrickville contributes to the communities’ health by providing emergency medical support to local residents, and transporting them to hospital in times of medical crisis.
- Ambulances are often very loud when their sirens are blaring and they create panic on the roads when they are in a hurry to get past, this has in the past caused some traffic accidents therefore inhibiting health.
Ambulance services provide medical emergency support to members of the community promoting health by keeping people alive and getting them to hospital at times of medical emergency, they also inhibit health by causing motor vehicle accidents on the roads with their blaring sirens and fast moving vans.
Police and Citizens Youth Club (PCYC)
- The local PCYC provides a healthy environment for kids and teens of the local community to play indoors in a safe environment, mostly basketball.
- The large building isn’t very aesthetically pleasing, and also isn’t utilised to provide many other health programs to the community than it could, therefore inhibiting the health of local residents.
- There is a risk to kids and teens of sporting injuries caused by using these facilities which is another inhibiter to good health.
The PCYC provides a safe environment for local youth to be active indoors with supervision promoting good health in a safe environment; however with sports will come risks such as broken bones, head and neck injuries and spinal injuries that will have a negative impact on the health of the local community.
Local Parks
- The local parks are very large open areas, often with bbq and play equipment, they encourage people to get outdoors and be active in the local area having a good influence on people’s health.
- By people littering and local drug addicts using these areas for injecting drugs or drinking out of hours, these areas inhibit people’s health when the council don’t remove bottles or syringes from them.
The parks in South Marrickville encourage people to be outdoors and active promoting good health in the community, although, when people leave syringes or smashed alcohol bottles this will inhibit the health of people coming in contact with them.
River
- The Cooks River runs through 2 local parks in South Marrickville providing a nice look to the community which will make people happy promoting health.
- The river is very polluted and can be dangerous to people who swim in the water or eat fish from the river thereby inhibiting health.
The local river promotes health by encouraging people to be outdoors looking at the pleasant surroundings, although by being polluted it can inhibit the health of local residents who may swim or eat fish from the river.
