New here? Get 15% off your first order.See how it works

Nursing questions

Geriatric Windshield Survey Paper Essay

The instructor has written down exactly what goes wrong with this paper. Read the prohibitions as a rubric: no personal anecdote, no disease essay, and crime rates as rates.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 23, 2026

01

The prohibitions are the real rubric

Instructors rarely write down the failure modes this explicitly, so read the prohibitions as the marking scheme they are. Three are named. The first bans the personal anecdote, which means the paper must be written from the position of an outside observer even though the viewpoint adopted is that of an older adult, a slightly awkward combination that is easiest to manage by writing about a hypothetical resident rather than about yourself. The second bans the disease essay, which is the most common way this paper goes wrong: half a page on hypertension is material about older adults that says nothing about this neighbourhood. The third specifies crime rates as rates from government sources, which is a methodological instruction rather than a formatting one, since raw counts cannot be compared between places of different sizes. Together they describe a genre. The awkward combination of viewpoints is easiest to manage by writing about a hypothetical resident throughout.

Organise the paper around the domains that actually determine whether someone can age in place, and evidence each one from what you observed and what you can cite. Physical access covers pavements, kerb cuts, lighting, gradients, benches and crossing times. Transport covers distance to services, transit access and what happens when driving stops, which is the single most consequential future change for most older adults. Services covers proximity of pharmacies, groceries and primary care. Safety covers the crime rates you were told to report as rates, and also falls hazards and traffic. Social infrastructure covers places where unplanned contact happens, since isolation is a documented health risk rather than a quality of life concern. Then answer the anticipated future needs half of the question explicitly, because a neighbourhood adequate for an active seventy-year-old may not be adequate for the same person a decade later. Together they describe an academic community assessment rather than a reflection.

Likely learning objectives

  • Read stated prohibitions as marking criteria.
  • Write a community assessment from an outside observer's position.
  • Report crime data as rates from government sources.
  • Distinguish present adequacy from anticipated future needs.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Step 1 – Geriatric Survey is attached and must be used! Home is located in Houston, TX Step 2: From the point of view of an older adult, use the information you gathered in step 1 to evaluate your neighborhood in terms of how adequately it will meet your present and anticipated future needs. Write a paper on this using APA format. You may use either sixth or seventh edition APA. This is an academic, APA paper from the view of an outside person. Avoid telling a story of yourself and your dog and that you are happy the sidewalk is flat. Avoid personal information about your family. Avoid material on older adults that does not apply to the community (half page on hypertension from the Mayo clinic does not belong, focus on the community and older adult. Your paper should be at least three pages double spaced not counting cover page or references. Students must use three current academic references (within the past five years) in addition to the references they use to document characteristics about their neighborhood. These references should concern characteristics and needs of older adults. Crime rates should be reported as incidents per 1000 or per 100,000 inhabitants. Crime rates should be reported using government sources. Facts that are not common knowledge should be supported with a citation. One of those references can be your textbook. All submissions will be checked for plagiarism. If plagiarism is detected the student will receive a zero for this assignment and will be referred to the Office of Community Standards.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

02

What the windshield survey paper requires

  1. 01An evaluation of the neighbourhood from the point of view of an older adult.
  2. 02Coverage of present needs and anticipated future needs.
  3. 03At least three pages, APA format, excluding cover page and references.
  4. 04Three current academic references from the past five years on older adults' characteristics and needs.
  5. 05Crime rates reported per 1,000 or per 100,000 inhabitants from government sources.
  6. 06Citations for facts that are not common knowledge.
03

Domains of ageing in place, evidenced

01

The neighbourhood described

Establish the boundary, housing stock and character of the area assessed.

What the assessor is likely looking for

A bounded area rather than a general district.

02

Physical access and the walking environment

Assess pavements, lighting, gradients, seating and crossing times.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Observations tied to older adults' documented needs.

03

Transport and what happens when driving stops

Assess transit, distances and alternatives to private car use.

What the assessor is likely looking for

The driving cessation transition treated as central.

04

Services within reach

Map pharmacies, groceries and health care against realistic travel.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Distance measured rather than described as convenient.

05

Safety, reported as rates

Present crime rates from government sources alongside falls and traffic hazards.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Rates per population, correctly sourced.

06

Social infrastructure and isolation

Identify where unplanned social contact happens and cite the health risk of isolation.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Isolation treated as a health outcome.

07

Anticipated future needs

Assess adequacy under reduced mobility, cognition or driving.

What the assessor is likely looking for

A forward-looking judgement, which the prompt requires.

04

Where neighbourhood and ageing data sits

Recommended databases

  • U.S. Census Bureau
  • Houston Police Department open data
  • PubMed Central
  • NCBI Bookshelf

Search sequence

  1. 1.Complete the survey instrument on site before drafting anything.
  2. 2.Find the government crime data source and convert to a rate per 100,000.
  3. 3.Search age-friendly community criteria for the assessment domains.
  4. 4.Look for recent evidence on social isolation and health in older adults.
05

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Windshield and Walking Surveys

Community Tool Box, University of Kansas · 2024

Review before citing

Windshield and walking surveys, for the method the assignment is built on.

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

Nursing: Mental Health and Community Concepts, via NCBI Bookshelf · 2024

Review before citing

Community assessment, for organising observational findings.

Social Determinants of Health

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion · 2025

Review before citing

Neighbourhood and built environment as a determinant of health.

06

Before you submit the paper

Common mistakes

  • Writing a personal narrative despite the explicit prohibition.
  • Including general material on ageing that does not apply to the community.
  • Reporting crime as counts rather than rates.
  • Using non-government crime sources.
  • Answering only present adequacy and ignoring future needs.

Submission checklist

  • Is the paper written from an outside observer's position?
  • Have you excluded disease material unconnected to this neighbourhood?
  • Are crime figures rates from a government source?
  • Are all three academic references within five years?
  • Does the paper address anticipated future needs separately?

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read Brinevia's academic-integrity policy.

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Maren is a registered nurse with over 15 years of clinical and educational experience in medical-surgical nursing. She writes on NCLEX preparation, patient care fundamentals, pharmacology and evidence-based practice.

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

Tessa is a doctorally-prepared nurse educator. She reviews Brinevia content for clinical accuracy and alignment with current evidence-based guidelines.

Want feedback on your plan before you draft?

Get help interpreting the brief, checking your evidence strategy, and strengthening your outline while keeping the work your own.

Get assignment guidance
Start your order