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The goal of this writing and research assignment is for you to look in depth at a particular public health problem that is of interest to you and to think critically about how you, as a health professional, are going to contribute to the health and wellness of the people you will someday serve!

 

Defining a Target Population

 

Organizations need to be clear about their target populations and know the demographics of the people they wish to serve in comparison to the larger community.

 

For example, a target population could be all of the people in an organization’s local community, everyone in the state, or people living at or below the poverty level within a given community.

 

After clearly defining who needs to be served, an organization can evaluate whether or not it serves all racial/ethnic groups within that community proportionately.

 

For example, a fictional nonprofit human services agency’s mission is to provide health insurance to local families who are without health insurance. Fifty percent of people without health insurance in the local community are white, 25 percent are Latino, 15 percent are African American, 5 percent are Native American.

 

Consider the scope of the health issue, any demographic factors (age, race, etc.), setting (urban, suburban, rural, frontier), and location (town, county, city, state, etc.)

 

Asthma in children ages 6-18 in low-income rural Oregon

 

The Paper

 

  1. General introduction setting up the paper. What are you going to do in this paper? (Describe a particular issue facing a particular community, and how we can meet Healthy People 2020 objectives by 2020)

 

  1. The Problem Space: What is the issue, and why is it an issue?
  • What is the health condition as identified by Healthy People 2020?
    • What does it look like now? What are the Healthy People 2020 goals in general? Which goal in particular did you choose to identify as one that aligns with your career goals?
  • What is the incidence and prevalence of your condition in general?
  • What are the trends over time? Has the issue worsened, or gotten better? Describe.
    • Hint: this is an area where time is important. What is the “bigger picture”? How did this become an issue now?
  • What are some of the disparities surrounding this health issue? Think about age, gender, race, ethnicity, location, protected populations, minorities

 

  1. Based on information from Healthy People 2020 and your analysis of the health condition in #2 above, who is your target population? What grouping of people do you want to work with and why? How do you think you can help meet the goals and objectives of this particular Healthy People 2020 area

 

  1. What are the predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors that might make it easier or difficult for people in your target population to improve their health? This question should also prompt you to think about the risk and protective factors for the community you’ve identified.

 

  • Risk factors are characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precede and are associated with a higher likelihood of negative outcomes.
  • Protective factors are characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of negative outcomes or that reduce a risk factor’s impact. Protective factors may be seen as positive countering events.

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Risk and protective factors are more “big picture” ideas.  Predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing (PER) factors can be too, but for our purposes, PER factors are unique to the individual or community that you are serving.

  • Predisposing factors are hereditary conditions and lifestyle factors that contribute to a disease occurring in a person.
    • Being African-American
    • Family history of heart disease
    • Being male
  • Enabling factors are factors that make it possible (or easier) for individuals or populations to change their behaviors or their environment. This includes skills or physical factors such as availability and accessibility of resources, or services that facilitate achievement of motivation to change behavior. Think of it like, “Well, I drive past Dutch Bros every morning, so it’s easier for me to just stop and get my coffee there.” Or “How am I supposed to eat healthier when there aren’t any grocery stores around?”
    • Resources (not having a car would make it more difficult to go to regular doctor’s appointments)
    • Conditions of living (no grocery stores within walking distance of a low-income neighborhood would make it more difficult to eat healthy)
    • Societal supports (We have lots of great sidewalks and it makes me feel safe to know that I don’t have to risk getting hurt walking in the street.)
    • Skills (knowing how to prepare vegetables in a tasty way would make it easier to eat more vegetables)
  • Reinforcing factors include factors that reward or reinforce the desired behavior change, including social support, economic rewards, and changing social norms.
    • “If I exercise 8 times a month, I get a $15 credit on my gym membership That’s why I keep working out!”
    • “My family never wants to go hiking, so I found a free hiking group in my community. We go out every other weekend! I’m so glad that they help keep me moving”
  1. Your professional contribution
  • How do you think that you can help meet Healthy People 2020 goals as a professional? Healthy People 2030 goals will be arriving in the next few years. How will you, in your career, help the community you’ve identified reach those goals for health?

 

  1. Conclusion

 

You should cite sources. As many sources as you can find. If you read something, and then type words in your paper because a piece of writing gave you an idea, you need to cite that source. You must use in text citations using APA format (DeWitt, 2016) or if you’d like to learn a new format, you can also use AMA1.  Regardless, you need to have a Resources page at the end of our paper. You should be able to accomplish writing this paper in about 5 double spaced pages. Completing your evidence tables will make this part of the paper less effort!

WORKSHEET for Paper Outline

 

Focusing your topic area:

Why are you interested in this topic?

 

Why does this topic matter?

 

In the following paper, what are you going to talk about?

 

Incidence:

 

Prevalence:

 

Trends over time:

 

Disparities:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Other

 

Demographics:

 

Risk/Protective Factors:

Predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors:

What are your recommendations for tackling this problem by the year 2020?

What do you think the new Healthy People 2030 goal should be? How do you think the Healthy People 2020 goal will change from 2020 to 2030?

 

 

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