Applied health research project
Applied Project
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GUIDELINES FOR THE APPLIED PROJECT IN HEALTH PROMOTION
Congratulations!
You are very close to completing all requirements for your Master’s Degree. This semester you will “Apply to Graduate” (online) and submit your completed Candidacy Form to your advisor at least one week before the University deadline. You will also finish your coursework, complete your Applied Project and your Comprehensive Exam s. Be sure to stay in close contact with your advisor throughout the semester.
OBJECTIVES
During this project, students will demonstrate their ability to…
prepare for the development of a community heatlh profile and assessment
· Identify and describe a neighborhood or ‘community’ and priority population
· Describe the scope and focus of the assessment (specific health problem and behaviors that may lead to that problem).
· Describe data collection methods and sources
· Identifying acquisition process and sources of demographic information
· Identifying specific programs, initiatives and/or policies
· Identifying and scheduling interviews with key informants
· Developing interview questions
· Identifying method for recording and documenting interview
IDentify, collect, analyze and interpret community health information in different settings
· Identify and interpret secondary information (demographics, health trends, etc.)
· Identify, interview, analyze and interpret related attitudes and perceptions of community resident(s)
· Identify, review and compare processes, strategies and activities of at least three community programs, initiatives or polices to best practices
· Identify, interview, analyzing and interpret interviews of at least three program leaders and one ‘community’ member related to selected topic
· Review and rate data collected from a community needs assessment.
· Describe community health status
· Identify community strengths and areas for improvement
· Identify and describe excessive duplication
· Identify and describe potential gaps in services and resources
· Identify and prioritize potential strategies for improvement
Communicate health, resource and program informaiton through oral, written, digital, and visual presentation
· Summarize information through use of written text, tables, figures and graphics.
· Present HPRO faculty with a comprehensive paper clearly explaining all aspects of project planning, implementation and outcomes.
· Present HPRO faculty with a brief presentation (powerpoint with audio or video) of all aspects of project planning, implementation and outcomes.
ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME
A three credit hour Applied Project may be completed in one semester if students stay focused and submit high quality products during each phase of the project at the scheduled times. To meet University deadlines the project must be defended and comprehensive finals must be completed approximately three weeks prior to the end of the semester. To encourage students to stay on track and successfully complete the project each phase will be submitted before a designated due date. Students will receive advisor feedback and complete revisions before moving to the next phase.
PRE-WORK AND PREREQUISITES
The Applied Project should be completed during the last semester of the coursework for the master’s degree. At least 21 credit hours of required courses must have been completed prior to registering for the Applied Project.
Community Assessment OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
What is a “Community” ?
Communities are typically defined by a geographic area; however, they can also be based on shared interests or characteristics such as religion, race, age, or occupation. People within a community come from different backgrounds and have unique cultures, customs, and values. Before you conduct a community assessment you be able to clearly identify and describe the community or neighborhood of interest.
What is a Community Health Assessment?
A community health assessment provides a snapshot of local community health status, health behaviors, policies, systems, programs and strategies currently in place aimed at improving the health of community residents. It also helps to identify areas for improvement. With this information, plans can be made to develop a plan for community health improvement by creating strategies for positive and sustainable changes in the community.
COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT PHASES
The Applied Project Community Assessment has three phases:
PHASE I: During this phase you will describe your community, priority population and health problem of focus. Then you will identify ALL resources, programs, initiatives and services related to the identified program in your community. You will conduct an observational analysis of the community identifying characteristics resources and services related to your project and record your findings. You will then analyze your data and identify over-duplication and gaps in services.
PHASE II: The objective of Phase II is to gain more insight into at least three of the programs or initiatives identified in Phase I. During this phase you will conduct key informant interviews with leaders of at least three programs or initiatives identified in Phase I. You will develop and submit a paper describing your community, the health problem, phase I outcomes (resources, observations, etc.), project methods (secondary data, key informant interviews, interview questions), results (themes from interviews, etc.) and Discussion (suggestions and recommendations for programming, policy, systems, and/or environmental change to address the health problem in the identified community).
PHASE III. During this phase of the project you will develop an oral presentation of your project. This will be presented to your advisor and ultimately to your committee as either a narrated powerpoint (adding narration to each poweroint slide) or as a powerpoint with video (you may use a variety of software options for this, Screencast-O-Matic is a free screen recording software that is free (15 min limit) and easy to use. Your final presentation should be 15-20 minutes.
Community Assessment Focus
Programs, Initiatives, Resources
The primary focus of the Applied Project Community Assessment is identification of ALL programs, initiatives and resources related to the health problem that are easily available to the priority population. Most communities have access to a wide variety of services, be sure to include all! It is also important to explore various factors that influence the availability of resources such as policies, systems and environments.
Policies
This involves laws, regulations, rules, protocols, and procedures that are designed to guide or influence behavior. Policies can be either legislative or organizational. Policies often mandate environmental changes and increase the likelihood that they will become institutionalized or sustainable. Examples of legislative policies include taxes on tobacco products, provision of county or city public land for green spaces or farmers’ markets, regulations governing a national school lunch program, and clean indoor air laws. Examples of organizational policies include requiring healthy food options for all students, menu labeling in restaurants, and required quality assurance protocols or practices (e.g., clinical care processes).
Systems
This involves strategies that affects all community components including social norms of an organization, institution or system. It may include a policy or environmental change strategy. Policies are often the driving force behind systems change. Examples of systems influences are implementing a national school lunch program across a region or provincial school system or ensuring a hospital system becomes tobacco free.
Environment
This focus relates to the physical, social, or economic factors designed to influence individual and group practices and behaviors. Examples of alterations or changes to the environment include:
Physical: Structural changes or the presence of programs or services, including the presence of healthy food choices in restaurants or cafeterias, improvements in the built environment to promote walking (e.g., walking paths), the availability of smoking cessation services to patients or workers, and the presence of comprehensive school health education curricula in schools.
Social: A positive change in attitudes or behavior about policies that promote health or an increase in supportive attitudes regarding a health practice, including an increase in favorable attitudes of community decision makers about the importance of nonsmoking policies or an increase in nonacceptance of exposure to second-hand smoke from the general public.
Economic: The presence of financial disincentives or incentives to encourage a desired behavior including charging higher prices for tobacco products to decrease their use or the provision of nonsmoker health insurance discounts.
Project Steps
In this project you will gather and assess information on community assets and determine areas for improvement. The process is modeled after and informed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Community Health Assessment and Group Evaluation (CHANGE). The following steps encourage progression toward success.
1. Plan and Organize
a. Identify community including geographic boundaries (neighborhood, county, city) or demographic characteristics. Large counties and/or metropolitan cities should be narrowed to a specific neighborhood or group at risk.
b. Identify priority population
c. Develop strategy or process for collecting demographic and behavioral information (may use secondary data sources i.e. CDC, health dept., etc )
d. Develop process for identification of existing resources
e. Develop process of observation of community resources, behaviors, etc.
f. Develop process for identification of key informants (one community resident, three leaders of programs in three…
