Term Paper Instructions
For your term paper you will be submitting a journal editorial based on your choice of one of two of topics (see below). Your term paper represents 25 % of your grade and is due Friday April 30th.
Late submissions: 5 points per day.
The assignment:
Editorials may have several purposes such as providing a concise review on a current topic, drawing the reader to a recent development or innovation, or presenting a personal message from the editor to journal readers.
The purpose of your journal editorial will be to provide lessons learned from the historical development of the US health system to a current health policy issue.
You will be primarily evaluated on the extent you are able to synthesize those historical lessons and apply them to a current event.
Choice of topics
Please choose from ONE of the following general topics (in your editorial you should choose a specific issue to focus on related to this topic):
Option 2: How can we reconcile the interests of the public, professional and private sectors to address the social determinants of health?
For this topic you may focus on how to prioritize public health initiatives by separating public health from medicine; previous policy discrepancies among the three sectors and how to address these; OR how these sectors have historically prioritized one income level over another.
Editorial sections
Your editorial should include:
1. Title page indicating the title, course, your name, and word count. The word count does not include references or tables. Try to think of a punchy title!
2. Body, in separate paragraphs: a) raise your chosen topic or pose a question in a problem statement (how does a historical event apply to your current policy issue? Justify why it is relevant); b) suggest one or two possible policy strategies to address the issue; c) provide available historical evidence supporting the possible policy options (how did they work or not work? What can we learn from this?); and assess the counter-evidence (how do you respond to opposing viewpoints on this issue? Remember to justify your response with evidence).
3. Conclusion: you should summarize your main points and end with a conclusion
4. References: Your editorial should refer to four sources total. Journal editorials primarily reference journal articles and books. However, you will be allowed to use ONE website as a reference. Another source should be the book used for this course. The two remaining sources should be journal articles that inform your chosen topic.
How you will be assessed:
The quality of your editorial does not depend on the amount of knowledge you have about the topic, but on how you apply what you have learned from the course to critically engage with one of the topics. Your editorial should draw on material from the relevant sessions as a starting point for identifying the key issues in your selected topic. This editorial should include the following sections:
The following criteria will be used to grade your editorial:
|
Section |
Guidance |
Value |
|
Problem statement (a) |
Clear identification of a current policy issue and how lessons from a historical event can be applied to it |
10% |
|
Policy strategies (b) |
Presentation of one or two clear policy strategies stemming from historical events addressing the current issue |
20% |
|
Critical analysis (b & c) |
Use of statistics, historical examples and application of lessons learned from the course materials to your chosen policy issue |
40% |
|
Conclusion |
Clear and concise conclusion |
10% |
|
Overall presentation |
Adequate sources; correct formatting and NUMBER of references; organization, clarity, flow, spelling/grammar |
20% |
Presentation:
• Your editorial should be 800-1,000 words. The list of references is NOT included in the word count.
· Type and double-space your assignment using 12-point font.
• Include page numbers in your document.
• Fully and accurately cite all references and resources used to complete your assignment. Remember to use APA Style author-date system for in-text citations and the list of references.