Mental Health Care Services Accessibility and the Intersectionality of Smoking - Juan Carlos Ruiz Malagon
Knights Landing is a farm worker community of approximately 1,000 residents located 20 miles north of UC Davis. Initially, residents of Knights Landing established contact UC Davis Chicano/a Studies researchers regarding their perceived elevated risk of cancer and environmental exposures. Our subsequent analysis of existing health risk monitoring data in addition to preliminary discussions with residents, UCD medical clinic staff, and county health officials revealed individual risks like smoking, diet, lack of exercise, substandard housing, and occupational exposures are pervasive in Northern Yolo County. In a community with substantial environmental and social risk factors, prioritization for health interventions is an important task (CalEPA 2015, EPA 2016). Rural communities are known to have higher rates of smoking although similar knowledge of the adverse health effects of smoking exists relative to urban communities. One proposed reason for the elevated risk of smoking in rural...