The Population Health Project (PHP) is a discussion and description of the health of the population in a specific community or region. This assignment is divided into parts that are completed separately in different weeks. Please review the instructions and rubrics for each section of this assignment closely prior to submitting them.
In the Population Health Project, you will:
- Select a specific community of interest to you. The community can be a demographic group (eg. race/ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, etc.), a geographical area (eg. state, city, region), or some combination of the two. The community should be specific enough so that you can identify research articles about the group, but broad enough so that you have a sufficient amount of information to discuss in the project. An example of a community you might choose is African American women in the southeast US.
- Describe the community you selected. Be sure to include information about why the community should be focused on and what some of the population's unique characteristics are (eg. location, behaviors, socioeconomic status, culture, etc.).
- Describe the health issues affecting the community. Be sure to include information about what the health issues are and the prevalence and incidence of the health issues in the community. Focus specifically on those health issues that are more prevalent in the selected community than the population overall.
- Explain the determinants of health for the selected population. That is, explain why the selected community experiences higher rates of particular health issues and what is influencing their health status. Refer back to the characteristics of the community in the second bullet.
- Select one health issue that is particularly prevalent in the selected community and discuss this particular health issue in depth. Be sure to include information about what the health issue is, how the health issue develops, what happens to a person who has the health issue, and why the community you selected is particularly affected by it.
- Discuss future trends for the community's health. Be sure to include information about if the community is getting healthier or unhealthier, what current predictions are for the community's health, and what is being done to improve the health of the community.
- Suggest a strategy for improving the health of the community. Consider what would be the best way to improve the health of the community given what you know about it. This strategy can be based on current research about the community.
Written Paper
For part 3 of the assignment, you will create an eight to 10 page written paper that addresses each of the bullet items in the assignment description. Your paper must be written in a formal, academic, scholarly style. You should utilize the feedback you received from me and your classmates on your PHP presentation to help craft your final written paper.
Submission guidelines:
- You paper should be approximately 2500 words (8-10 pages of information). Cover pages, abstracts, and references DO NOT count towards this requirement.The paper should be typewritten and double-spaced, with a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper and set in a standard, traditional font (Arial) at a 12-point font size. Do NOT try to change margins, font sizes, and increase/decrease spacing to make your paper fit the length requirement.
- Use the 6th edition of the Manual of the American Psychological Association for reference in writing this paper. The last page of the paper should be a "References" page with all of the sources you used cited correctly in APA style. You must also have in-text citations correctly throughout your paper.
- Please include a cover sheet that includes the following: Your name, the date the paper is submitted, the course title, and the Professor's name.
- You must use at least three scholarly sources other than the course textbook. All information in your paper that is quoted or paraphrased must be cited correctly with in-text citations and on a references page in APA style. Do not use lay internet resources like Wikipedia.