Assessing the health of a community or population requires a different skill set than assessing individual patients. Individuals are assessed using direct observation during the process of identifying the condition, needs, abilities, and preferences of a patient. The health of populations is assessed using data analytics that aggregate findings based on a predefined geographic area or a common characteristic. For example, a population can include the people in an entire county, state, or nation.
Additionally, a population can include the people in a hospital unit, community, or any other group of individuals who have shared characteristics (e.g., older women or those who attend a common event at the same place and time). The disease investigator, or epidemiologist, defines the population of interest, which may change as the investigation progresses. Defining the population is extremely important as it is essential to describe an epidemic in terms of person, place, and time (PPT).
For this task, you will create a professional multimedia presentation (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote). This presentation will be based on your analysis of an investigation conducted in SARS Outbreak Study 1 and SARS Outbreak Study 2 within the “Epiville SARS Simulation” found in the Web Links section. You must complete your analysis of these simulations before you begin your task since all the information in your presentation will come from these simulations.
Your presentation should be 30 slides or fewer. You will present the methods, processes, and results of your investigation of the Epiville SARS simulation that were essential to controlling the spread of this disease and preventing future outbreaks. Additionally, you will present information on the guiding principles that form the basis for investigating and managing infectious disease outbreaks.
REQUIREMENTS
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 50% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. The originality report that is provided when you submit your task can be used as a guide.
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.
Create a multimedia presentation (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote) of your outbreak investigation of the Epiville SARS simulation (suggested length of 20-30 slides) by doing the following:
Note: While you need to create a presentation, you do not need to present it.
A. Provide presenter notes for each slide.
Note: Presenter notes must be included for each slide to cover the necessary level of explanation, analysis, and discussion.
B. Provide a title slide including the following:
• the title of the presentation
• your name
• your university
• the date the presentation is given
C. Provide an outline of the main topics that will be included in your presentation in the order they will be presented.
D. Describe the background of the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak (suggested length of 2–4 slides) by doing each of the following:
1. Describe the case definition used in the Epiville SARS simulation and how the choice of case definition can influence an outbreak investigation.
2. Describe key factors to consider when developing a case definition.
3. Define the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak in terms of person, place, and time (PPT).
4. List the six steps used in the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak investigation.
E. Summarize the techniques used in the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak investigation
(suggested length of 5–8 slides) by doing the following:
1. List the different surveillance methods used to ascertain cases.
2. Determine the number of cases that meet the case definition for suspect cases and probable cases.
3. Describe the mode of transmission for both the Amoy Apartment Complex and the Star Hospital in the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak.
4. Describe the process used to develop the working hypothesis for this outbreak, including the process used to identify the agent and the process used to identify the mode of transmission.
5. Explain the best measure to describe the epidemic in the Epiville SARS simulation and how the measure is calculated.
F. Present your case-control study design analysis (suggested length of 4–7 slides) by doing each of the following:
1. Identify an appropriate study design to analyze this Epiville SARS simulation outbreak.
2. List the data to be collected for the study design from part F5a.
3. Provide a screen capture of the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak plot, including a description of the type of epi curve.
4. Analyze the incubation period of the agent and discuss the significance of knowing the incubation period of the SARS exposure.
5. Describe the differences between an endemic, epidemic, and pandemic.
a. Discuss the stage of the outbreak in the Epiville SARS simulation and how you made this determination.
6. Calculate and present the case fatality rate and describe the significance of the rate.
7. Calculate and present primary and secondary attack rates.
G. Discuss the management of the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak (suggested length of 3–6 slides) by doing each of the following:
1. Describe one of the three principles of outbreak management.
2. Describe the measures that should be implemented to control the Epiville SARS simulation outbreak.
3. Explain the rationale for recommending a specific surveillance type (i.e., active or passive).
4. Present a plan for disseminating information on the outbreak to other agencies and the public.
H. Summarize your presentation (suggested length of 2–3 slides), including three comments in which you reflect on your learning experiences in completing this task.
I. Acknowledge sources, using APA-formatted in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
J. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
