For Part 1 of my Final Project, I will be focusing on the global health issue of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality refers to the death of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days after the termination of pregnancy, regardless of the duration and location of the pregnancy (inside or outside the uterus), from any cause that’s related to or furthered affected more by the pregnancy or the way it’s managed.
As a woman myself, this issue is important and concerning because it reflects the health and well-being of women as well as serves as a crucial indicator of the overall status of maternal health care systems worldwide. However, I aim to explore domestically the aspects of maternal mortality, by examining disparities in access to maternal healthcare services, how socioeconomic factors impact maternal health outcomes, and how effective various interventions and policies are in addressing this ongoing issue. Furthermore, I will delve into the cultural, political, and structural determinants that shape the discourse surrounding maternal mortality. I will be asking questions like “ How do structural factors such as healthcare accessibility, socioeconomic status, and geographic location impact maternal health outcomes worldwide?”.
For part 2 of the project this is what YOU will have to do: For part 2 of your final project, you will need to conduct some secondary research and provide some context and background for your health/illness issue. There are two parts to this, and you can organize your part 2 write up in any way you choose, but it must have the following elements:
Report 5 facts about your issue and provide references for where you acquired that factual information. To continue with our ADHD example, you might state that despite scientists’ believing that ADHD has genetic as well as environmental causes, no genes have yet been identified as causing ADHD (p.108 in Rose Weitz, 2013. The Sociology of Health, Illness, and Health Care. Wadsworth.). You can start with a google scholar web search for your issue and see where it leads you, or you can begin by consulting one of the authoritative and reputable sources, such as the CDC, the NIH, or the WHO and gather your factual information there. You can also use your textbook as a starting point and for a reference for 1 or 2 of your facts, but not all. And then of course, you can use your library resources to conduct your background research.
For each of the 5 facts, you need to write a short, 1 paragraph interpretation of the fact through the sociological lens. Remember C.Wright Mills and the sociological imagination? For each of the findings that you are reporting, you need to move beyond the individual, physical, epidemiological, or medical fact and reflect on the idea that your fact has major social causes or consequences. Again, to continue with our ADHD example, the fact that no genetic marker for the disease has been identified yet, could mean, for example, that the ADHD diagnosis is symptom-based and thus more arbitrary, which, in turn, means that one could be easily misdiagnosed, that diagnosis can be disputed, or that there are alternative, non-genetic causes for the illness and so on.
