Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health

Social and Behavioral Determinants of HealthAssignment #4: Health Theory Paper
General instructions:
1. Submit the paper in Microsoft Word, PDF, or Rich Text Format.
2. Upload your paper to Blackboard by 11:59 PM on the due date in the syllabus. I strongly
suggest that you also email the paper to YOUR school or personal email account in case
Blackboard loses it. Emailing it to yourself provides a time stamp in case there is a controversy.
3. Do not put your name anywhere in your paper or use your name as the document name
when you save your paper electronically. (I correct papers anonymously to do so without bias.
Blackboard remembers your name and can match you to your score when I am done.)
4. Organize your paper in the sections that I have in the rubric. Write a title for each section
that is listed in the rubric. This makes it easier to correct (and hopefully easier to write). So do
yourself and me a favor and use the rubric.
5. Use APA style references in text and at the end of the document (see the syllabus for more
info). Use peer-reviewed journal articles for your references and citations.
6. Do not use direct quotes in this paper. There is no need for it. I will take credit off if you do,
even if you cite a reference.
7. Do not copy any text from anywhere else, even a portion of a sentence. Use your own words.
8. Make sure to read the rubric at the end of this paper for tips.
1. Background: Briefly describe a health concern (disease, condition, injury) that has the
potential to cause death or reduced quality of life. Select a modifiable behavior or psychological
condition (risk factor) that increases the likelihood of suffering from this health concern.
Describe briefly why this risk factor increases the risk of the health concern. Select a particular
population (based on a specific demographic profile such as age, gender, geography,
socioeconomic status, ethnicity, etc.) that is affected by this health concern. Provide some
statistical evidence to show the extent to which the health concern you selected is a problem in
the population that you chose. Provide at least 2 citations from peer-reviewed journal articles.
2. Theory: Select one of the six Health Promotion theories that we studied in class (Health
Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behavior, Stages of Change, Social Cognitive Model, Diffusion
of Innovations, Community Organizing). Briefly describe the main points of the theory that you
selected. Be sure to define the theory’s main constructs in your own words. Provide at least 1
citation from a peer-reviewed journal article.
3. Intervention: Plan a behavioral intervention designed to reduce the health concern (from
section 1) in the population of interest (from section 1). Your plan must address the behavioral
risk factor (from section 1) using the selected theory (section 2). This is not supposed to be a
report about an intervention that was already published in the literature. You can certainly use
published reports for ideas, but you are supposed to be applying your own ideas, not simply
reporting on what others have already done. In the description of your intervention, be sure to
include:
a. Groups: Description and size of the group of people for whom the intervention is intended.
This group should be from the demographic population of interest described in section 1.
Describe how this group will be recruited for this intervention. Describe the organization
(fictional or factual) that will carry out this intervention (e.g., research institute, a healthcare
facility, a community based public health organization, an employer, a school, a religious
organization, or some other stakeholder in the community).
b. Tasks: Tasks that you will undertake as part of the intervention. You must explain how these
tasks are motivated by the constructs of the theory that you have chosen. You must also
explain how you expect these tasks to affect the risk factor of interest. Provide a timeline
describing the timing of these tasks in order to conduct the intervention. Provide at least 1
citation from a peer-reviewed journal article.
c. Cultural Values: Describe how knowledge of cultural values and practices influenced the
design and implementation of your intervention. How did this influence your recruitment of the
participants? How did this influence the development of the program itself? Provide at least 1
citation from a peer-reviewed journal article.
4. Evaluation: Explain how you will collect data in order to determine:
a. Process: How well the intervention was implemented.
b. Impact: The extent to which the intervention changed the risk factor in the studied group.
c. Outcome: The extent to which the intervention changed the health concern in the studied
group.
Each evaluation (process, impact, and outcome) should include information on 1. Method of
evaluation—How will you collect the information needed to evaluate the program (observation,
interview, focus group, questionnaire, clinical assessment, etc.); 2. Brief description of
questions asked in the evaluation (i.e., What information do you want to know in order to be
able to conduct the process, impact, and outcome evaluation?); 3. Standard for success based
on evaluation method. (What size of a change in the observed characteristics or values that you
are measuring in your process, impact, and outcome evaluations will you need to see to know if
your intervention was successful or not?); 4. Timing—How long after the beginning of the
project do you expect to conduct each type of evaluation?
6. References: Please make sure that the reference section at the end of the paper is complete
and correctly uses APA format. References must be from a peer-reviewed journal article or
from a book or monograph published by a reputable governmental, academic, or research
organization. Do not use websites for your references.
See Rubric on the following pages
Project Criteria; Total points = 30
Background
(3 points)
Novice
(0-55%)
Aspects are
missing or 3+ are
unclear or less
appropriate.
Developing
(70%)
All 5 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 4 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
Proficient
(85%)
All 5 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
All 5 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
All 4 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 4 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
Theory
(4 points)
Aspects are
missing or all 3
are unclear or
less appropriate.
InterventionGroup
(4 points)
Aspects are
missing or 3+ are
unclear or less
appropriate.
InterventionTasks
(4 points)
Aspects are
missing or 3+ are
unclear or less
appropriate.
InterventionCultural
Values
(4 points)
Aspects are
missing or all 3
are unclear or
less appropriate.
EvaluationProcess
(3 points)
Aspects are
missing or all 3
are unclear or
less appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
EvaluationImpact
(3 points)
Aspects are
missing or all 3
are unclear or
less appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
Exceptional
(100%)
Clear description of 1
health concern 2 how the
risk factor impacts disease
3 population, 4 statistic, 5
appropriate citation.
1Theory is described
completely, 2 constructs
are clearly explained in
your own words, 3
appropriate citation.
Clear description of group
affected by intervention: 1
who they are, 2 how many
they are, 3 how you recruit
them, 4 how they fit the
target population, 5
Organization that will
implement the program.
Clear description of 1 tasks,
2 how tasks fit theory, 3
how tasks affect risk factor,
4 Clear timeline of tasks.
Clear description of 1 how
cultural values impacts
recruitment, 2 how cultural
values impact program
design, 3 appropriate
citation
Clear explanation of how
process data is collected for
all tasks: 1 method of
evaluation, 2. questions
asked, 3. standard of
success, 4. timing.
Clear explanation of how
process data is collected for
all tasks: 1 method of
evaluation, 2. questions
asked, 3. standard of
success, 4. timing.
EvaluationOutcome
(3 points)
Aspects are
missing or all 3
are unclear or
less appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
two are
unclear or less
appropriate.
All 3 aspects
are present;
one is unclear
or less
appropriate.
References
(2 points)
Citations in text
or in References
section at end
are missing or do
not match.
Major errors in
formatting, but
references still
legible.
Minor error in
formatting.
Clear explanation of how
process data is collected for
all tasks: 1 method of
evaluation, 2. questions
asked, 3. standard of
success, 4. timing.
All references are listed
correctly at the end and
cited properly in text using
APA format.