TOWN ASSIGNED: COLONIA

State: New Jersey
County: Middlesex

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT PAPER -

The following are a starting point for your community assessment paper -

a. The Community of Interest: the town or county in New Jersey, or the country in Africa, Europe, Asia that you will be assessing and studying.

b. Demographic characteristics of the population, such as age, ethnic backgrounds, and income levels.

c. How many people have health insurance, how many are on Medicare or Medicaid; how many are uninsured. What is available health care? Hospitals? Primary care offices? How many? Do they take all insurance, or only private insurance? Clinics? Mental health services?Alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs? Pharmacies?

d. Available resources in the community: schools, hospitals; public, private; health centers; transportation; public or individual cars; businesses; churches;

e. Additional resources?

f. More information about the schools? Number and levels? Overcrowded? Under funded? Poorly performing? Many of the students English as a second language? Students on school lunch?Health and physical education in schools?

g. Geographic location: Near an industrial region? Near major highways? Quality of air and water, and other possible forms of pollution or contamination?Parks and recreational areas?

h. Housing? Mostly private homes? Public housing? Senior citizen housing?

i. Any problems in the community. Identify health problems and issues thatyou would like to address in your paper. Obesity? Diabetes? Addictions? Access to health care? Uninsured? Lack of preventive services?Access to major medical center in the area or lack of it.Or other that you find out in your research.

Starting with the above ideas, please write a 7 to 10 page position paper explaining the dynamics of the community you have selected. The community you select is your choice as long as it is supported by solid evidence. In this case, take "solid evidence" to mean 3 or more peer-reviewed journal articles published since 2011. As per SONHS, I suggest starting with CINAHL, and then, to increase your chances of getting full-text PDFs, these databases: PubMed Central, PsycINFO and our Libguide.

COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONS /SOLUTION/PRESENTATION PAPER -

a. Select one major problem from your community assessment paper.

b. Identify a vulnerable ethnic or other minority group in this population.

c. Discuss briefly what the literature reports about the problem, such as poverty, obesity, lack of access to health care, etc.

d. With support from the peer-reviewed literature, discuss how you would implement a program that addresses the problem. Primary, secondary and tertiary interventions will be included as appropriate.

e. At least two or three long-term goals should be written for this program. The goals should be supported by the specific, measurable objectives that will structure the intervention.

f. The program may include interventions such as: educational seminars run by health educators and public health professionals in community centers, schools, or senior citizen centers. You can include other disciplines such as dietary, SW, psychology, pastoral care, nursing, etc. Search the peer-reviewed literature health promotion programs and interventions that have had a positive impact on the community or population. Use those as a model for your thinking and planning.

g. There must be evidence (citations) in your paper that your proposed interventions are supported by the literature. But, be creative. Develop your own solution to the problem.

h. It is anticipated that the paper will be between 8 and 10 pages in length with 1" margins, Times New Roman, size 12 font.

CASE STUDY PRESENTATION:

DIRECTIONS: Give a 10 -15 minute presentation in a case study format. Please bring a hard copy for the instructor on the day of your presentation. This case will be created based on your Community Assessment and the Solution Papers. The presenter will prepare 4 to 5 questions for classmates to answer in class. In addition students will provide the case study with answers to the instructor at the scheduled class for presentation. The students present in class are expected to discuss the questions posed and in return pose a question to the presenter.

Evaluation and grading of the presentation will be based on:

1. Your ability to present a topic clearly.

2. The information that you present on the topic.

3. Your ability to discuss the case in a coherent manner.

4. Both the instructor and your peers will evaluate your presentation.