PHE 321 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
In 2013, West Africa saw the beginning of one of the largest and longest lasting Ebola breakouts in history, which lasted for over two years. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that heart disease, killing some 614,348 individuals that year, was the leading cause of death in the United States. These examples show two different types of disease—one infectious, the other chronic—that have become focal points of public health. How do public health professionals work to solve such issues? The key is a thorough understanding of the etiology, behavior, and transmission of diseases.
The final project for this course is a disease brief, which will require you to select a chronic or infectious disease from the provided list and write a brief analysis of that disease to inform your health professional peers. You will cover the etiology of the disease, research the incidence and prevalence of the disease, explore treatment and prevention, and consider how the ecological model impacts this public health issue.
This project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three and Five. The final product will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Analyze the etiology of infectious or chronic diseases to determine risk factors and modes of transmission
Discern the role of individual, community, and governmental levels of the ecological model in addressing public health issues and in impacting an individual’s health
Determine incidence and prevalence of disease among affected populations by analyzing public health data and statistics
Distinguish prevention and treatment options for chronic or infectious diseases that can inform strategies meant to improve public health
Prompt
Select one of the chronic or infectious diseases from the list provided to be the focus of your research. You will write a disease brief on your selected disease.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
Overview: In this section, you will introduce the disease you selected, including an overview of its current impact on public health.
Level of Public Health Issue: Describe the disease selected and the impact it has on public health. In other words, is this a current public health issue, one that may become a major issue, or one that was a public health issue in the past?
Etiology: In this section, you will research the selected disease and analyze its etiology. Remember to use APA formatting for your citations.
Disease Progression: Based on your research, describe how the disease develops in the human body. Consider how the disease starts as well as the process the disease goes through as it progresses.
Risk Factors: Explain the major risk factors for contracting or developing this disease, using your research as support.
Transmission: Discuss whether the disease is chronic or infectious and how it is transmitted from individual to individual.
Incidence and Prevalence: In this section, you will analyze what the data reveals about the disease. Review the CDC website to interpret the available data for the chosen disease.
Incidence: Interpret what the available data reveals about the number of incidences of this disease, including how often individuals contract or develop this disease in the United States.
Prevalence: Determine how prevalent the disease is in the United States, including the most affected populations. Support your determination with available data.
Correlation With Risk Factors: Based on your interpretation of the available data and your research on risk factors, explain whether the incidence and prevalence of the disease correlates with the major risk factors you identified.
Treatment and Prevention: In this section, you will research and discuss prevention and treatment options available for the selected disease.
Prevention Strategies: Describe the common primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies practiced regarding the selected disease. Support your description with specific examples.
Treatment: Describe common treatments used on individuals as the disease progresses and determine which may be appropriate for informing public health strategies.
Public Health Applications: Illustrate how the identified prevention and treatment options might be able to inform future strategies aimed at improving public health. Support your discussion with specific examples.
The Ecological Model and Public Health: In this section, you will review the roles that individuals, communities, and governmental levels have in addressing public health issues in general and how these can ultimately affect the health of an individual.
Individuals and Communities: What role do individuals and communities play in impacting public health issues? Provide examples to support your discussion.
Governmental Levels: What role do governmental levels play in addressing health issues in the public arena? Provide examples from the state and federal level to support your claims.
Individual’s Health: What effect do these levels have, ultimately, on the health of individuals suffering from the selected disease?
Milestones
Milestone One
In Module Three, you will select a disease for your final project from the provided list. Once you have selected your disease you will provide a brief overview, as well as identify resources for your chosen disease. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Etiology and Incidence and Prevalence
In Module Five, you will write a short paper based upon the disease you chose for your final project. You will begin by identifying the risk factors for the disease. In addition to that, you will discuss modes of transmission, incidence, and prevalence for the chosen disease. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Submission: Disease Brief
In Module Seven, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final project. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.
What to Submit
Your disease brief must be 8 to 10 pages in length (plus a cover page and references), and must adhere to APA formatting for formatting and citations. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.
thee topic is Diabetes
