Assignment Task - Sourcing, Identifying and Evaluating Evidence

Better Health Research Means Better Health Care

Note: You may reference the topic content PDFs for this assignment but not the lecture notes (in which case you may wish to find other sources).

This assignment draws on Topics 1, 2 and 3. It requires you to access and understand health-related data and information from reputable, widely used sources of health information. Topics 1, 2 and 3 (and especially the online tutorial activities and sessions associated with each topic) will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to successfully complete this assignment.

Please note that links to these online reports and articles are deliberately not provided in this assignment because one of the skills of a health professional (taught in this unit) is being able to locate health data and information online.

Question 1:

Based on the following citation of an academic journal article please answer Questions 1 (i)-(v).

Choowong, J, Tillgren, P & Söderbäck, M 2017, ‘Thai people living with tuberculosis and how they adhere to treatment: A grounded theory study', Nursing and Health Sciences, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 436-443, doi:10.1111/nhs.12362.

Please identify:
i. The title of the article.
ii. The author(s) of the article.
iii. The year of publication of the article.
iv. The title of the journal in which the article was published.
v. The digital object identifier of the article.

Question 2: Please briefly describe what:

i. Inductive research is in your own words, referencing any sources used to inform your answer as appropriate.

ii. Deductive research is in your own words, referencing any sources used to inform your answer as appropriate.

Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, locate the journal article cited in Question 1 above through the Deakin library website and read the abstract and introduction carefully before answering Question 3.

Question 3:

i. Demonstrating your understanding of the key concepts we have covered in this unit to date, explain three distinct key reasons which indicate that the study by Choowong, Tillgren and Söderbäck (2017) is qualitative in nature. Your answer should show an understanding of the HBS108 unit content and draw on specifics from the article.

Question 4:

i. Develop a quantitative research hypothesis relating to the topic of diabetes and health.
ii. Develop a qualitative research question relating to the topic of diabetes and health.
Hints for answering Questions 4(i) and 4(ii):

Stating a research hypothesis in the form of a question does not necessarily transform it into a qualitative research question. A qualitative research question is one that can be answered using qualitative study designs and methods rather than quantitative study designs and methods.

The Topic 1 content PDF and seminar activities will assist with understanding the difference between quantitative research hypotheses and studies, and qualitative research questions and studies.

Question 5:

Select either the hypothesis or research question you developed in Task B (Question 4). You must clearly state which one you have selected to use for Question 5 otherwise marks will be lost in this section. Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, access the Deakin College e-resources (through the Deakin Library website) and conduct a search for a journal article that is relevant to your research question/hypothesis. The article must be:

- An academic journal article
- Peer reviewed
- Published within the past 10 years
- Qualitative in nature if it is addressing the qualitative research question OR quantitative in nature if it is addressing the research hypothesis
- Appropriate to the hypothesis/research question

To receive any marks for this question you must paste the abstract of the article into your assignment as an appendix.

i. Name the database(s) you searched in order to find the article (remember that EBSCOHost is not itself a database, but rather, a platform that enables access to multiple databases).

ii. Specify the search terms you used to successfully locate the article.

iii. Provide the full reference to this article (in Deakin-Harvard style) here as your answer to this question.

iv. Paste the abstract of the article into your assignment as an appendix.

Question 6:

i. Briefly describe in your own words what a systematic review is. In your explanation you should identify if systematic reviews are a primary or secondary form of evidence and explain why in your own words (i.e. by paraphrasing).

ii. Keeping in mind how a systematic review differs to other types of studies, briefly state why systematic reviews are particularly useful to health professionals.

Please read the following passage before answering the remaining questions:

Imagine you are a health researcher. The community you work in ‘Bigtown' has a large proportion of people of childbearing age. Local data suggests that the uptake and retention rate of breastfeeding in your community is low. A local health promotion agency has some funds to invest in improving the health of the people in the local region. The health promotion manager is considering investing the money in an initiative to improve the uptake and retention of breastfeeding. You have been employed to locate the best evidence on the health benefits of breastfeeding. On searching some databases and you find that there are LOTS of academic articles published on the topic of breastfeeding. Reading through all of the individual studies is time consuming and some studies have contradictory findings. You decide to search for systematic reviews instead. You select a quality systematic review from the relevant papers you have found.

Question 7

i. Based on the scenario provided above locate an appropriate systematic review. State where you located your chosen systematic review (i.e. name the database(s) you searched) and the search terms you used. Remember you may need to try synonyms for your various search terms in order to find an appropriate article. This will be a trial and error process and so may take a few attempts.

ii. Paste the full reference to your chosen systematic review (in Deakin-Harvard style) here as your answer to this question. Paste the abstract of your chosen systematic review into your assignment as an appendix. (Note: You must paste the abstract of the article into your assignment as an appendix in order to get marked on this section of the assignment).

iii. Based on the evidence provided in the systematic review you selected above you need to clearly outline your recommendation on whether promoting breastfeeding uptake and retention would be a suitable use of health promotion funds to improve the health of people in 'Bigtown'. Your recommendation must outline any potential benefits of breastfeeding as supported by the evidence. Specific details of the benefit(s) and the evidence to back them up must be provided. Your recommendation must be well-informed and based only on the evidence presented in the systematic review you located. It is essential that you paraphrase the evidence (i.e. write in your own words) when writing the recommendation. Your recommendation must demonstrate that you have a good understanding of the evidence and should outline if the benefits of breastfeeding are in fact upheld by the scientific evidence.

Note: Personal opinions should not be shared for this question; instead a well-informed professional opinion/recommendation based on the evidence is required. It is extremely important that you reference all sources of information clearly when supporting your answer with evidence and that you paraphrase any information you use. Your professional opinion should be clearly justified. (Please note that we do a similar activity in the Topic 3 seminar if you wish to get some inspiration for this part of the assignment). This question requires a well explained answer and as such it should make up a large portion of your word count.

Harvad style