Descriptive Epidemiology – County Health Rankings
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to give students practice in identifying and reporting on descriptive epidemiologic data. This project will give you practice at looking at the quantitative evidence (the numbers) and draw conclusions from the evidence.
General Go to http://www.countyhealthrankings.org and “Explore Health Rankings”. Select Philadelphia, PA. Use the information and resources on the County Health Rankings website and in the links provided on the website to prepare a report that describes the health of the population in Philadelphia.
Content
Your County Fact Sheet should be organized in the following sections.
Title: Your title should include the names of the people in your group.
1. Introduction (0.25 page): Provide a brief overview of your county as a context for your report on the health of the population. Use the sociodemographic information you find in the County Locator to describe the characteristics of the county and its population. You should list the total population and distribution of age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, and any other socioeconomic indicator you believe is relevant. Make at least one demographic comparison with the state as a whole. Consider what the data suggest about the Philadelphia, compared with the entire state.
2. County Rank (0.25 page): Use the information in the County Rankings to summarize where the county ranks in terms of (a) Health Outcomes and (b) Health Factors in the state of Pennsylvania. The Health Outcomes rank is based on two ranked sub-domains; the Health Factors rank is based on four sub-domains. Provide the ranks for each of the sub-domains that influence the county rank.
3. Three Key Measures (1 page): Select one Health Outcome measure and two Health Factors measures. For each measure:
A. Summarize in 1-2 sentences what the measure means, where the data used to create the measure come from, and the time period those data cover.
B. How does this measure influence the county ranking? What are the public health consequences of the health condition represented by this measure?
C. Compare the statistic in Philadelphia with the state as a whole and the nation overall. Is your Philadelphia worse or better off than most other counties within the state? How about the nation? Explain your basis for this comparison and provide evidence to support your conclusion by citing the relevant quantitative data from the website.
4. Conclusion (0.5 page): Conclude your paper by summarizing your interpretation of what the indicator reports mean for the overall public health profile of your county and the likely health concerns of its citizens. Use the “Take Action to Improve Health” link on the County Health Rankings website to explore what public health action might be taken to improve your county’s rank on the measures you described. Make a brief recommendation of what initiatives and/or what additional data would be helpful in profiling or improving the health of this community.
5. Author contributions: Please write 1-2 sentences each of what each group member contributed to the project.
6. References: Please cite any additional references you used (see description below)
Format of the Report
Page limit: 3 pages of text.
The report must be double-spaced, with 1” margins, and typed in Arial 11 font.
References
· Web resources must be from official or vetted sites such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health (note the plurals: “Centers” not “Center”; “Institutes” not “Institute”. Points off if not correct). Any articles you cite should be from the peer-reviewed literature on epidemiology and public health, not the public press or TV sources.
· Include proper citations for any material that is not common language or your own words or ideas. All references must be in either MEDLINE/PubMed or APA citation format; please review the reference lists in peer-reviewed journals for examples of the correct format. For more information on correct citation format go to https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/policy/cit_format.html or https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/.
Final Thoughts
· Correct grammar, punctuation and spelling are essential and count!
· You can stop by the Temple Writing Center (http://www.temple.edu/writingctr/) for help and editing of your material and references. They have walk-in sessions and appointments you can set up online. They also offer email sessions so you can submit your paper online and get a response within a day or so.
· Be thoughtful when thinking about these measures, how they are collected, and their implications for the health of the community.
