Goal: This paper is designed to make you think critically and succinctly about the role social influences have on our health experiences.
Basic Task: Write 600-800 words (approximately 2 pages) on how structural social forces influence health disparities.
Why are you doing this: In public health we often discuss population health rather individual health – it is critical for you to think about why this is the
influential way to solve health problems.
Steps:
Pick a health issue that you enjoy reading and thinking about (e.g., cervical cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, etc.). NOTE: This should be a different
health issue than what you focused on in the first paper.
Go to the CDC (or similar site) and find out who experiences the most cases of this health issue.
Also go and find a peer-reviewed journal article (or multiple) that discusses your health issue.
Think about what we have discussed in class – what are the ways health behavior has been influenced for this issue. For instance do social norms prevent
someone from asking their partner to wear a condom or about their STI history? Or does someone think that covid is a myth and that prevents them from
getting vaccinated?
Write an outline for this paper, including sources. THIS IS PART 1.
This outline should NOT be: Intro, Body 1: Health issue, Body 2: Population, Body 3: Behavioral Cause, Conclusion.
A detailed outline should provide key points you will focus on in your paper.
It should outline how you are connecting disjointed topics.
Paints the picture of how you are making your thesis in the paper.
This allows me to provide you feedback and say, “think about this source.” Or “these points do not actually connect.”
Now that you have feedback and have thought about it a bit more, write it into a paper. THIS IS PART 2.
Make sure to have 3-5 sources. Sources should be in APA format. They should be peer-reviewed or government sources (CDC, FDA, DHHS, etc.).
