For
your final project, you will need to select a health-related topic of interest
to you. This could relate to health professional shortages; social determinants
of health; health disparities; etc. Your topic might also be related to a
specific healthcare sector (e.g., hospitals; long-term care facilities; mental
and behavioral health services; outpatient services; health insurance
companies; or public health services), a specific health policy, or specific
health profession (e.g., how the introduction of non-physician practitioners
influence healthcare access). Your paper should focus on how your selected
health-related topic influences cost, quality or access to health care. You do
not need to write about all three major topic areas that we covered over the
semester, but your paper and selected topic must focus on at least one of the
major topic areas of: access, cost, or quality.
This
final project is a research paper. As such you must include a minimum of eight
scholarly references. Four of these references must be from outside sources and
should be from peer-reviewed or quality academic sources, while the other four
may be from course readings, lectures, and textbooks. For your peer-reviewed
articles you can identify them using Google Scholar, PubMed, Web or Science or
another similar database. References may also come from reputable websites with
.gov, .edu, or .org in the domain.
You must address the following in your paper:
1. Please develop a primary research question related to
your topic.
2. Keeping in mind your primary research question, what
are the current issues, trends, disparities (if any), or opportunities related
to this topic that are directly relevant for patient care and/or the health
care system.
3. What, if any current health policy (e.g., healthcare
reform, proposed state laws, etc.) issues may affect your topic area? Discuss a
minimum of three issues/challenges and offer your recommendations on how
healthcare leaders or administrators can manage them.
4. Propose future directions/next steps that healthcare
leaders or administrators can take to improve quality, safety, or cost within
the broader health care system. These future directions/next steps must be
related to your chosen topic area.
5. Provide a conclusion summary of your findings.
Your paper should include:
· A title related to your selected topic
· Introduction
· Clear explanation of the topic for your presentation
including your research question.
· Include any background information (e.g., existing
evidence/current state of the science) related to your topic. This should
include some review of the academic literature surrounding your topic, and me
know why this research question and topic is important for the future of the
healthcare delivery system.
· Methods
o
Include an
explanation of how you identified the information presented in the significance
section, e.g., did you conduct a literature review, did you conduct interviews
with healthcare professionals, did you gather data from existing data sources?
Be sure to include citations for articles or lists of websites, databases, or
types of people interviewed (e.g., provide their titles NOT their actual
names).
· Significance and findings
o
What are the
specific issues related to your topic area? This can be more broadly in
relation to the health care system, health policy, or more narrow as the topic
relates to access, quality or cost. Again, this can include information you
gathered from existing literature or it may also be information you extracted
from some of the databases we have examined throughout the semester, or
gathered during interviews with relevant informants.
o
What, if any
current health policy (e.g., healthcare reform) or practice issues may
currently impact your topic area?
· Discussion/Conclusion
o
What did you
learn from this research project?
o
Can you offer
recommendations on how your research through this assignment can lead to
improvements in access, quality or cost within the health care system by
healthcare leaders or administrators?
o
Can you address
what are the implications of your findings for the healthcare field?
o
Are there next
steps/future directions that are important to explore related to your topic?
o
Be sure to
include how your findings will contribute to current conversations or debates
concerning your selected topic.
Format requirements: Do not exceed 5 double-spaced pages with 12-point
font size and 1-inch margins on all sides. You should use APA formatting for
all references. Please upload your completed assignment in blackboard.