Category: Healthcare

Exam Content
Health care leaders may face many challenging scenarios, such as conflicts between coworkers and departments. During the first 2 months as the administrator of a new management team for a long-term care facility, you have noticed an increase in conflicts between your coworkers and other departments, such as pharmacy and nursing staff. This prompts you to analyze leadership challenges sooner than later. Your manager sees this as an opportunity for you to assess and write a report on the actions needed to improve employee relations in the facility. How do you address the department changes so you and your team have a good performance appraisal?
Preparation
Review the following articles on leadership challenges from the University Library as you prepare for this assessment:
“The Challenges of Leadership”
“Priorities and Challenges for Health Leadership and Workforce Management Globally: A Rapid Review”
Assessment Deliverable
Write a 900-word report for your manager in which you:
Describe 3 to 5 other challenges a health care leader may face in a health care organization (e.g., negative employee morale, poor customer service, and outdated equipment).
For each challenge:
Explain the impact of the challenge on the organization and how you, as a leader, could address the challenge.
Explain how these challenges can affect a team and the morale of an organization.
Explain how these challenges may affect the performance of employees.
Explain how you could increase employee satisfaction during these challenges to show effective team leadership skills.
Explain how you could improve employee relations in the facility during these challenges.
Explain what types of efficiency measures can be used during these challenges from a leadership perspective.

APA 7
The areas of provision and reimbursement of health care services have each undergone considerable changes in the past several years, with the following current trends identified as being the most significant contributors to change:
Healthy People 2020 and Healthy People 2030 Initiatives
Bundled payment structure versus fee-for-service payment structure
Accountable care organizations (ACOs)
Technology and telemedicine
Medicare Advantage Plans
Population health management strategies
Using your employer/organization’s resources,******(SEE BELOW FOR EMPLYER)***** appropriate websites, and the GCU Library as your informational foundation, research these trends and others you may find relevant, and write a 1,250- to 1,500-word essay in which you examine the following:
Which of the currently identified health care trends are already affecting your employer/organization, or an organization in your city/region in your health care field?
Which of the currently identified health care trends are specifically affecting your sector of allied health, and why?
What emerging health care trends on the horizon may affect your employer/organization and/or your specific allied health sector?
Which of the current or emerging trends do you see as most likely to positively influence your specific role and sector in allied health? Which trends are most likely to have a negative affect? (Examples: wages, job security, educational requirements, technology, etc.)
How will one of the reimbursement trends you identify affect safety, risk management, and/or quality improvement policies in your organization/and or an organization in your city/region in your health care field?
Provide a minimum of three scholarly resources from the readings or the GCU Library in order to complete this assignment successfully.
****My future Employer would be the Veteran Affairs********* 

Overview
The final project for this course is a written proposal.
While healthcare organizations differ greatly, managers in various departments of organizations must propose changes. Some changes managers might propose include updating processes, buying new equipment, and hiring employees. Managers also propose many other changes to executives and boards for approval. For this course, you will place yourself in the role of a manager in an organization of your choice. You will create a written proposal that will add value to an organization and will impact the budget. This may come in the form of adding updated equipment, changing a process to become more streamlined, and so on. You will be submitting your proposal to your instructor, who will be playing the roles of CEO and budgetary board, for consideration. This assessment requires you to defend the value added and the financial impacts to the organization that you outline in your proposal. Defending a proposal is a skill you can use in your future career.
You will select your organization from the list provided in the Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric document. You also have the option of selecting your place of employment within healthcare as approved by your instructor. If you choose your own place of employment, you must ensure that sufficient financial information is available to support your work on this project.
The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Three, Four, and Six. The final project will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Articulate key managerial accounting principles in healthcare using appropriate terminology
Determine financial impacts in healthcare by analyzing major forces affecting the delivery of health services
Utilize financial statements to inform short- and long-term strategic planning
Craft high-level proposals that address budgeting consideration by justifying spending for healthcare services
Prompt
Your proposal report should answer the following prompt: Considering the major forces in healthcare today, what improvements or changes would you propose for your selected organization? How would your proposal add value to the organization, and what impact would your proposal have in terms of the financial and budgetary considerations?
The proposal that you are creating may require you to address these aspects in a different order. Please organize your report in the manner that seems the most logical for your topic.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Introduction
What are the major forces affecting the delivery of healthcare today? Discuss these forces and their corresponding impacts on today’s healthcare environment.
Impact of Forces: What healthcare service and delivery opportunities and challenges exist because of the forces discussed above? Define the challenges and opportunities that exist for today’s healthcare leaders.
Opportunities: Based on your analysis of the major forces, impacts, and opportunities provided, consider the specific organization that you selected. What opportunities exist for this organization, and how do these opportunities relate to the big-picture view of healthcare?
Proposal: What is your proposal for addressing identified issues or improvements within your organization? In other words, what changes are you trying to incorporate in your selected organization?
Financial and Budgetary Considerations
Financial Statements: What financial statements will you utilize in making your proposal, and how will you use these statements?
Proposal Impact: What impact will your proposal have on the organization’s financial statements? Articulate the impact using appropriate terminology.
Flexed Versus Fixed: How would your proposal be different if using a flexed budget versus a fixed budget? In other words, how would the use of one type of budget versus the other impact your proposal, and how would your proposal impact the budget? (Evaluate the differences between a fixed and a flexed budget.)
Proposal Justification
Ratio Selection: What ratios will you use to support your proposal and why? Select the ratio or ratios that would be the most appropriate.
Ratio Results: Calculate the selected ratios and articulate the results using accurate terminology. What do the results tell you about the viability of your proposal?
Short- and Long-Term Impact: Based on your calculations and financial statement analysis, determine the short-term and long-term impact on the organization and the organization’s financials. What is the short-term and long-term financial impact of your proposal for the organization? How can you plan to strategically mitigate the impact on the financials of the company, or how will your proposal help inform strategic planning in the short and long term?
Closing Statement/ Conclusion
Added Value: What value will your proposal add to the organization? Justify the value or improvement your proposal will add for the organization, in consideration of trends in healthcare.
Justification of Proposal: How appropriate is your proposal based on your financial analysis? Justify your proposal based on the financials and budgetary considerations. If you feel that your proposal is not appropriate given your analysis, explain why, with support of your reasoning.
Milestones
Milestone One: Draft Proposal: Major Forces
In Module Two, you will submit a draft proposal for critical elements located in Section I, parts A and B (see above under Prompt). You will define the major forces affecting the delivery of healthcare. You will also describe the opportunities and challenges as they relate to healthcare leaders. Additionally, you should include the types of leases that might be considered for financial operations. In your response, consider the opportunities and challenges for today’s healthcare leaders. The draft proposal should be a minimum of 2 pages in length. This milestone is graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Healthcare Organization Selection
In Module Three, you will select a company within the healthcare industry that you will use later for your capital budget proposal research. You will submit the healthcare organization selection to the instructor to ensure that you are able to attend to each aspect of the assessment. The format should be a 2- to 3- paragraph journal assignment. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Draft Proposal: Capital Budget Item Selection and Opportunities Available for Proposal
In Module Four, you will submit a draft proposal for Section I, parts C and D. Using your healthcare organization and the information gathered, identify the capital budget item or items that will be used as the basis for the written capital budget proposal. You must include how the proposal recommendations reflect the big-picture view of healthcare. Refer to the Note on Operational Budgeting in Health Care (located in your course pack) for final project budget guidance. The draft proposal should be a minimum of 1 page in length. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Milestone Four: Finance, Budget, and Justification
In Module Six, you will submit a draft proposal for Sections II and III. You will provide financial statement analyses, profitability ratios, and ratio analyses to support the capital budget proposal you formulated in Milestone Three. You will also use financial calculations to support proposal recommendations and to explain the short- and long-term financial impact for the organization. The draft proposal should be a minimum of 2 pages in length. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Four Rubric.
Final Product: Written Proposal
In Module Seven, you will submit a written proposal on your selected organization. You will provide an explanation of how the capital budget proposal supports the operational and strategic goals of the organization. You will explain the value of the capital proposal in consideration of current trends in healthcare and provide financial statement support and analysis. The written proposal should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should incorporate the feedback you received throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.
What to Submit
Your written proposal should be long enough to sufficiently cover all necessary material, including key budgetary information and any external resources used in preparation. The number of pages is less important than the content and organization of the report. Your proposal should be organized logically since it will be used to convince your supervisor and budgetary board (your instructor) to approve your changes. Your paper must use APA formatting throughout, including headings, references, citations, and cover page.

Submit the Background Portion of the Position Paper.
Use APA in-text citations and list references used on a separate page.
On the title page, list your thesis statement in red font.
Mini research paper, giving factual and neutral infrmation about thesis. Refenece on a sepeate page.
APA format, 6 references reuired.
At the bottom of the page, list thesis in red font.
This paper has to be thorough. 
Thank you,

As a public health manager, you are concerned with certain health issues trending in your local community. You will analyze factors affecting public and community health by creating an action plan specific to the disease or health condition within the community you selected in Wk 3. You will demonstrate your community assessment skills using data to drive health improvements in community and public health. 
Assessment Deliverable
Write a 700- to 1,050-word action plan in which you share your analysis and support it with data findings, evidence-based interventions, and a plan to improve community health. In your action plan:
Provide a brief introduction or snapshot of the disease or health condition, community, and SDOH you selected in Wk 3.
Identify health disparities of the chosen disease or health concern (e.g., access to health care).
Describe how the health disparities impact the risk of the chosen disease. (e.g., many of these people are isolated in rural locations).
Analyze the local resource needs.
What are the public health departments, local organizations, or others doing to reduce the threat of the disease or health condition?
What services or resources are needed at the local level to address the gaps determined above?  
How could you pursue those needed resources?
Recommend ways to decrease health disparities and improve community health as it relates to this disease or health condition. 

Instructions
Starting on Day 1 and running all the way through Day 180, create a timeline of activities to be directed at and completed with new employees.  Use the table in Section 2 as a guide and customize the table for your own organization.
In your table, including when during the employee’s employment, each specific activity should occur, who is responsible for conducting that activity, and why you chose that activity as a part of your process. Your table should be prepared in a format that can be used as both a description of the process as well as a checklist that an HR staffer can use to track the progress of an employee’s onboarding.
Your onboarding timeline must include steps that ensure:
The employees understand the policies and procedures of the organization.
They understand their job duties.
They understand what’s expected of them in terms of job performance.
They understand their compensation and benefits.
They are familiar with their workspace and other surroundings.
There is an opportunity for them to ask questions without feeling uninformed or judged.
There is an ongoing feedback process in place so the employees will receive objective feedback in relation to their performance.
Supervisors and managers have a formal method to check for dissatisfaction or the possibility that the employees are considering leaving the organization.
Other issues are addressed that help ensure the employees feel welcome and that their needs are being met.
Length: 3 pages, not including title and reference pages
References: Include a minimum of 3 scholarly resources
Your table/checklist should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure to adhere to University

Answer the discussion QUESTIONS.  Place the references underneath the post.
W7 DiscussionHR7:
This week we will explore and conduct research regarding employee health and safety of the workplace and answer the following questions:
1. What are the main health concerns that affect people at work?
2. What are some of the major ways we can reduce workplace stress?
3. What is/are YOUR major concern(s) regarding health & safety in your organization?
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W8 DiscussionHR8:
Final Thoughts: After all that you have learned from the textbook, the research you have conducted, and discussions with fellow students, please discuss the main functions of HRM and what you feel is/are the most mission-critical issue(s) facing 1) HR Managers, 2) employees, and 3) organizations today in this order.
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PBE111 – W8Discussion:
“As you think about the Affordable Care Act (often colloquially referred to as Obamacare), consider the original Act of 2010 and compare it to what is left of the Act today.  There have been SIGNIFICANT changes since the inception of the Act.  Much of the original Act is intact, however much of it has also been discontinued or changed since 2010.
Reflect upon how the Act–as it exists today–and how it has affected operations for the healthcare manager. How has the Act changed the way we do business in healthcare?”
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EPI – W8:
This week, we will look into our own communities and discuss emerging diseases.  
Look into health data for your community (Denver, Colorado).  You can look at statistics from your local health department or websites such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Find a disease that is emerging in your community and discuss.  Give the rates and the duration of the increase of this disease.  What population does this disease affect most?  Discuss what you think can be done to prevent further increase in this disease.
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Respond to these posts. Place references under EACH post.
W7 DiscussionHR7:
1. Jossie Chavez
Greetings class, 
This week we where asked to explore and conduct research regarding employee health and safety of the workplace, some of the main health concerns that affect people at work would be respiratory problems, if there is a exposure at work of fumes, dust, or other pollutants can lead to respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and other lung problems. Another main concern would be mental health issues, there are times where the work environment could be very stressful, they could get anxiety, depression, feel frustrated, as well as burnout.
Some major ways we can reduce workplace stress is by promoting work-life balance, make sure employees are getting a good amount of time off to work on themselves and their families. As well as fostering a positive work culture, with open communication and feedback, help each other be better. 
Some of my major concerns regarding health and safety in the Military is making sure Soldiers are getting a good nutrition, amount of sleep, and exercise. 
-Jossie
2.  Alison Tucker
What are the main health concerns that affect people at work?
Some of the leading health concerns affecting employees at work are mental health issues, musculoskeletal disorders, and chronic diseases. Mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, are increasingly common, contributing to significant absenteeism, leaves of absence, and reduced productivity. Stress remains the most critical concern, exacerbated by heavy workloads, tight deadlines, and lack of control over work tasks. This chronic stress can lead to burnout, anxiety, and depression for employees. Musculoskeletal disorders, such as back pain and repetitive strain injuries, are also common due to poor ergonomics and prolonged periods of sitting or repetitive movements. Additionally, chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions are another major health concern exacerbated by sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits every day in many workplaces.
What are some of the major ways we can reduce workplace stress?
One of the ways to reduce workplace stress is for employers to implement benefits and policies that address or support mental health. Providing access to mental health resources, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs), counseling services, or calming apps, can help employees manage stress more effectively and proactively. Employers encouraging regular physical activity through on-site fitness facilities, subsidized gym memberships, or online classes and promoting a healthy work-life balance by implementing flexible work hours, remote work options, and discouraging excessive overtime are some benefits and policies that can significantly reduce stress levels. Also, creating a supportive work culture where employees feel valued, recognized, and treated fairly, as well as having effective communication, regular feedback, job security, and opportunities for career development, can enhance the employees’ overall well-being, which reduces stress.
What is/are YOUR major concern(s) regarding health & safety in your organization?
My organization is experiencing exactly what my research discovered, with stress and burnout being my major concerns. We have implemented and promoted all the recommendations to reduce stress, but unfortunately, the budget cuts and RIF in departments continue to have a more significant impact on employees with increased workloads than the stress reduction measures HR is promoting. 
3.  W8HR
Robyn Green
The main functions of HRM are Training and Development, Recruitment, Employee relations, compensation and to help create and overall positive workplace for all. Policy formulation and enforcement along with payroll are also important parts of HR.
I think that HR mangers have a critical mission in making sure that they do a good job at recruitment, helping to create and maintain a good, healthy corporate culture, which will impact retention and  of course the overall employee development in conjunction with other managers.
When we look at employees, the critical issues that face them are mostly stress, having a good work life balance, dealing with poor communication with coworkers and managers. These areas tend to be the most important and challenging that face employees in many organizations.
Organizations have their critical issues that they have to deal with and need to be working on to improve and those are things like the challenges with employees and happiness,  that can include making sure there is proper training,  working on having good employee morale, structuring their organization to eliminate poor leadership and communication with employees and managers.
Each are has critical issues and challenges that they face to overcome these things, with each having their ideas of what is most valuable, and that is why from the top down these things mot be worked on and communicated well for everyone to be happy within and organization.
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Respond to these posts. Place references under EACH post.
PBE111 – W7Discussion:
1.  Christopher Dowling
Good morning everyone,
For this week’s discussion I will be talking about a case regarding Prime Healthcare and two doctors paying $37.5 million as resolve for fraudulent charges in relation to the False Claims Act and California False Claims Act. In 2021, Prime Healthcare Systems founder and CEO Dr. Prem Reddy and California interventional cardiologist Dr. Siva Arunasalam were brought up on charges involving Prime paying kickbacks to Dr.Arunasalam’s clinic for them to refer her patients to Prime in order to generate more money. 
These actions clearly violated the FCA as well as ethical principles within healthcare where Prime Healthcare wanted to generate their own revenue via money generated by patient cases coming in, doing so by paying an independent Doctor to purposefully refer her patients to said organization. Knowing they’re already receiving additional incentive. Although a patient may be receiving care for cardiac issues, they do not know that they are really being used for many which is not fair.
The overall resolve involved payment of 2 million by Dr. Arunasalam, 1.8 million by Dr. Reddy and 33.7 million by Prime in damages. As well as a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General involving both Prime and Dr. Reddy This agreement involves that Prime maintain a compliance program to monitor and review any further arrangements with affiliates.
I agree with the court rulings as the implementation of the CIA with both parties will help to ensure the integrity of Prime Healthcare’s operations, along with that the established value of payment by each party seems sufficient to make up for wasted funds utilized from Medical and Medicaid for false claims. Although it doesn’t seem each provider’s license was revoked, I would’ve recommended such as I believe they violated healthcare ethics in order to benefit in mass revenue. It just seems to me that these parties were in it for the money, more than their interest for their patients.
Reference
Prime Healthcare Services and two doctors agree to pay $37.5 million to settle allegations of kickbacks, billing for a suspended doctor, and false claims for implantable medical hardware. (2021, July 19). https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/prime-healthcare-services-and-two-doctors-agree-pay-375-million-settle-allegations-kickbacks
2. Nichole Mack
Hi Class,
From 2017 through 2019, Morris Park Nursing Home in the Bronx, NY “engaged in two fraudulent and illegal schemes that violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The first scheme involved cash payments made to a supervisor at a nearby hospital for patient referrals, and the second scheme involved switching residents’ Medicare coverage without their consent in order to increase the Medicare payments Morris Park received.” (U.S. Settles Lawsuit Alleging That Bronx Nursing Home Paid Kickbacks For Patient Referrals And Switched Residents’ Healthcare Coverage Without Their Consent, 2023).
Morris Park Nursing Home administration provided kickbacks to a Jacobi Medical Center discharge supervisor in exchange for referrals, some of which may not have been medically necessary for the patients. Kickbacks included cash handoffs in CVS parking lots, food deliveries, invites to holiday parties and Yankees tickets. The FCA prohibits offering or receiving anything of value to get someone to use a certain healthcare service. The Medicare changes included persuading and bribing patients in vulnerable medical states to change their insurance plans. Residents often did not fully understand how the change would impact coverage for other needs or lacked capacity to consent. Complicit staff were paid bonuses for maintaining a certain number of residents receiving Original Medicare coverage. CMS reimburses medical charges under Original Medicare on a fee-for-service basis, while many Medicare Advantage plans reimburse on a fixed amount basis. Forcing residents to change their coverage to Original Medicare for higher reimbursements is fraud.
The U.S. Attorney of New York won a civil case against the facility and Morris Park’s owner’s estate agreed to pay a $2.85 million settlement rather than go to court. The administrators involved paid over $600,000 in settlement. All parties publicly acknowledged wrongdoing. Since this was a settlement rather than a court ruling, there is no formal ruling of guilt. It seems the nursing home and accomplices will only face a financial burden and possible reputation damage. I wonder about the patients who were taken advantage of – were their plans switched back without penalties or issues? Were they allowed to leave and find new (hopefully trustworthy) nursing home residences at the expense of Morris Park? Was the Jacobi Medical Center supervisor held accountable in any way? It is interesting that this week’s lesson states that healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the nation, yet situations in cases like those we are discussing happen all the time. And these are the fraudulent cases that are known. Imagine if there were fewer regulations!
Nichole 
https://www.policymed.com/2023/09/morris-park-nursing-home-reaches-3-46-million-settlement-over-false-claims-act-and-anti-kickback-statute-violations.html
U.S. settles lawsuit alleging that Bronx Nursing Home paid kickbacks for patient referrals and switched residents’ healthcare coverage without their consent. (2023, May 17). https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-settles-lawsuit-alleging-bronx-nursing-home-paid-kickbacks-patient-referrals-and
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Respond to these posts. Place references under EACH post.
EPI-WK8
1. Candis Garmon
At the present time, I live in South Korea and this country has no emerging diseases, so I will be doing my discussion based off my families home address which in in Lithonia, Georgia. According to the CDC, a few states including Georgia have seen an increase of measles cases in 2024 of this month June. Measles is a highly contagious childhood disease that has been and is fatal for small children. The main risk factor for contracting the measles is being unvaccinated or traveling outside of the country where the disease is still an ongoing issue. Since June in Georgia, there has been 151 cases of measles across 22 states across America. The entire population is at risk for catching measles, but that risk remains extremely high for those who are unvaccinated because the vaccination has proven to be 93%-97% percent effective if given both doses as directed. Signs of infection (a rash) from the measles start to appear within seven days and spread to certain parts of the body. In these cases that caught the measles, from this month, 83% of people were unvaccinated or not sure of their vaccination status. Another risk to catching the measles is having a weak immune system or suffer from low  amount of vitamin A. The best way to eradicate  this disease is through vaccination, but unfortunately some people do not believe in vaccination for themselves or their families and this put everyone around those people at risk.
References 
Measles cases and outbreaks. (2024, June 7). Measles (Rubeola). https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/
World Health Organization: WHO & World Health Organization: WHO. (2024, April 16). Measles. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles
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Overview
You’ve all been working away piece-by-piece on your policy briefs. Now, you need to pull it together for the first draft. Only one person from your group needs to turn in draft 1 for it to count for your group.
You’ll also complete peer reviews of other a draft from a different group the following week.
What to do: Review the instructions for this week’s assignment.
Objectives
Pull together your group’s research into a first draft of your policy brief
Critically review other brief drafts
Directions
Write and turn in the first draft of your policy brief. Bring together the strongest arguments and evidence from what your group has compiled.
You can check your work against the rubric.
What to Include
Be sure to:
Specify the scope (1 pt)
Describe existing or proposed policy (1 pt)
Strengths v. Weaknesses (1 pt)
Action Items (1 pt)
Use of data to support assertions (3 pts)
Formatting:
At least one page. It is OK if it’s longer than 2 pages, it is better to cut content down than to add it in at the last minute (1 pt)
Use of an appropriate font (Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman) and font size (12 for headings/ 11 for body) (1 pt)
APA 6 or AMA style citations (use of reference managers like Zotero is recommended) (1 pt)
Academic Integrity
Getting help on the assignment is permitted.
Collaborating, or completing the assignment with others, is required.
Copying or reusing previous work is not permitted.
Open-book research for the assignment is permitted and encouraged.
Full citation (in AMA or APA format) of sources required. 

You don’t really have to interview anyone – make up ok
Template & rubric attached
Thank you so mcuh! (: 
Objectives
Identify electronic database search strategies (e.g., CINAHL, PubMed)
Locating and evaluating sources of evidence
Deliverables
Write a 3-5 page (not including the title and reference pages) paper
APA 7 formatted paper with an introduction and conclusion.
APA 7 headings for each section of the paper
At least 3 peer-reviewed articles 
Step 1: Research
Interview a librarian or nursing scholar on methods for locating and appraising health and other relevant research literature and electronic database search on strategies.
You may want to base this research on your idea from your Capstone Project; however, you may not self-plagiarize your previous work.
Step 2: Consider
Write a quality appraisal of the Library and resources.
What did you learn?
How do you locate and evaluate sources of evidence?
Which electronic database would you use most and what types of search words would you use?
What are the strengths?
What are the weaknesses?
Is it adequate? Why or why not?
Step 3: Write
Write a paper that addresses the questions above.
Step 4 Save and submit

The final project for this course is the creation of an analysis paper.
As a public health practitioner, it is critical that you are intimately aware of unaddressed public health issues in your community, as well as have a solid understanding of the complex social and behavioral factors that impede good health. Historically, public health programs have been developed with a one-size-fits-all mentality that ignores the underlying diversity of the target population. The range of risk factors that prevent people from achieving optimal health is wide and varied, and several key demographic indicators such as race, ethnicity, culture, age, gender, and social status must be considered.
For your summative assessment, you will critically examine an existing public health program that attempts to address a public health issue. You will evaluate the program to determine if it considers and accounts for the myriad social and behavioral risk factors that contribute to the public health issue. You will also analyze the factors that must be considered to successfully implement a targeted and appropriate public health program that aligns with the needs of the population.
The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Three, Five, and Seven. The final project will be submitted in Module Nine.
Outcomes
This assessment addresses your mastery with regard to the following course outcomes:
Analyze social and behavioral factors associated with increased risk of prevalent public health issues for informing development of appropriate programs or interventions
Evaluate public health programs’ use of social and behavioral theoretical approaches for encouraging change and fostering community engagement in public health strategies
Assess public health programs for the extent to which they consider social and behavioral factors in addressing public health issues
Recommend appropriate strategies that consider social and behavioral risk factors for addressing public health issues
Analyze public health trends for identifying critical public health issues impacting communities
Prompt
Select a public health program at the local or national level that attempts to address a public health issue and evaluate the program with regard to how it addresses social and behavioral risk factors. Your final analysis and recommendations paper must contain the following critical elements:Program Analysis
To what extent does the program use theoretical approach(es) to encourage social and behavioral change in the target population? Provide specific examples to support your response.
To what extent does the program use social and behavioral theoretical approach(es) to foster community engagement? Provide specific examples to support your response.
Of the social or behavioral risk factors you previously identified as associated with the public health issue, which are being addressed by the selected program? Was the program developed specifically to address those factors? Be sure to substantiate your response. By what mechanism(s) and how effectively have the social and behavioral risk factors been addressed in the program?
What do data and trends indicate about the program’s efficacy in meeting its intended public health outcome? Be sure to provide specific evidence from the program to substantiate your response.
What are the successes and failures of this particular program? In other words, explain in detail the program’s strengths and weaknesses in addressing the social and behavioral risk factors associated with the public health issue. If you feel the program has either no successes or no failures, be sure to justify your reasoning.
What do you feel has been the overall impact of the program in addressing the social and behavioral risk factors that contribute to the public health issue? What public health trends have you noted that helped to form your conclusion? Be sure to support your reasoning.
The two previous papers are attached to build off of my milestone