Assessing Children versus Elderly in Detroit for targeted outreach
The age balance or imbalance across the geography of Detroit results in some interesting areas where children or the elderly make up a majority. Not surprisingly many of the areas with the most children also have fewer elderly residents. The riverfront has a larger elderly population often associated with the senior apartment high rises. Grand River cuts an interesting pattern along the Westside where there are more elderly above the Avenue and more children below.
Understanding the distribution of different age groups across a city is critical to reaching people most in need and better planning program outreach. Vaccine priority started with a focus on the most vulnerable elderly population, but may soon shift to children.
