Select a specific community of interest to you. The community can be a demographic group (eg. race/ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, etc.), a geographical area (eg. state, city, region), or some combination of the two. The community should be specific enough so that you can identify research articles about the group, but broad enough so that you have a sufficient amount of information to discuss in the project. An example of a community you might choose is African American women in the southeast US.
Describe the community you selected. Be sure to include information about why the community should be focused on and what some of the population’s unique characteristics are (eg. location, behaviors, socioeconomic status, culture, etc.).
Describe the health issues affecting the community. Be sure to include information about what the health issues are and the prevalence and incidence of the health issues in the community. Focus specifically on those health issues that are more prevalent in the selected community than the population overall.
Explain the determinants of health for the selected population. That is, explain why the selected community experiences higher rates of particular health issues and what is influencing their health status. Refer back to the characteristics of the community in the second bullet.
Select one health issue that is particularly prevalent in the selected community and discuss this particular health issue in depth. Be sure to include information about what the health issue is, how the health issue develops, what happens to a person who has the health issue, and why the community you selected is particularly affected by it.
Discuss future trends for the community’s health. Be sure to include information about if the community is getting healthier or unhealthier, what current predictions are for the community’s health, and what is being done to improve the health of the community.
Suggest a strategy for improving the health of the community. Consider what would be the best way to improve the health of the community given what you know about it. This strategy can be based on current research about the community.
The group that I want to have researched is Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Americans. I chose this group because I have always wanted to go to Hawaii.
