Windshield Survey

A windshield survey is a descriptive approach that assess several community components by

driving through a community.

Strengths: Provide a descriptive overview of a community

Limitations: The results are based only on visualization and do not include input from

community members or empirical data. Keep this is mind when reporting on your observations.

These observations should be considered preliminary until verified with data. For example, bars

on windows may suggest higher levels of crime within the community; however, refrain from

characterizing the community as “violent” unless the statistics on crime supports this conclusion.

Windshield Survey Components

Disclaimer: Not all questions below need to be answered or addressed within your paper. This

overview is intended to guide you while conducting your survey. When writing your paper, only

include the information most relevant to the health and wellness of the community and your

suggestions for community improvement according to the Healthy People 2030 topics.

People

1. Who is on the street?

2. What is their general appearance (age, dress, well-nourished, obese, frail, unkempt)?

3. What are they doing?

4. What is the origin, ethnicity, or race of the people?

5. How are the different groups (subgroups) residentially located?

6. Is there any evidence of substance use, violence, disease, mental illness?

7. Are there any animals or pets in the community?

Place

1. Boundaries

a. Where is the community located?

b. What are the boundaries?

c. Are there natural boundaries?

d. Are there man-made boundaries?

2. Location of health services

a. Where are the major health facilities located?

b. What health care facilities are necessary for the community but are not within the

community?

3. Natural environment

a. Are there geographic features that can harm the community?

b. Are there plants or animals that could harm of threaten the health of the

community?

4. Human-made environment

a. What industries are within the communities?

b. Could the environment or industry pose a threat to the health of community

workers or the community itself?

c. Is there easy access to health care facilities?

d. Are the roads adequate and marked well?

e. What types of employment exist? Manufacturing? Retail? Small business?

Military installation?

f. Are there grocery stores which provided fresh produce, or is this a “food desert”?

g. Where is the garbage disposed? Is there evidence of trash, abandoned cars, or

houses?

Housing

1. Is the housing of acceptable quality?

2. How old are the homes?

3. Are there single or multifamily dwellings?

4. Is the housing in good repair or disrepair?

5. Is there vacant housing?

Social Systems

1. Are there social services, clinics, hospitals, dentists, and health care providers available

within the community?

2. Are there ample schools within the community? Are they in good repair or disrepair?

3. Are there parks or areas of recreation?

4. What places of worship are within the community?

5. What services are provided by local religious groups, schools, community centers,

activity or recreation centers?

6. Is there public transportation?

7. What grocery stores or other stores are within the community?

8. Is public protection evident (police, fire, emergency medical services, animal control)?

References

General Website Format:

Organization Name. (date). Title of the webpage (capitalize 1st letter and proper nouns only).

www.websitehyperlink.com

In-text citation: Blah blah blah (organization name, year).

Centers for Disease Control:

Centers for Disease Control [CDC]. (year). Title of the webpage (capitalize 1st letter and proper

nouns only). www.websitehyperlink.com

In-text 1st time: Blah blah blah (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], year).

Subsequent Uses: Blah blah blah (CDC, year).

Healthy People 2030:

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (year). Title of the webpage (capitalize 1st

letter and proper nouns only). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services;

HealthyPeople.gov. www.websitehyperlink.com

In-text 1st time: Blah blah (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], year).

Subsequent Uses: Blah blah blah (ODPHP, year).

U.S. Census Bureau: