Assignment 3: Identifying Health Disparities
An important part of the biopsychosocial perspective is the sociocultural perspective. It looks at how social and cultural factors contribute to health and disease. While advances in medicine have decreased mortality rates of many diseases, disparities exist across various sociocultural groups. The main objective of the Healthy People 2020 initiative is to decrease these disparities.
Consider two comparison groups that you would like to research. Choose one of the following:
- Compare groups belonging to different
races
or ethnicities, keeping the age and gender constant.
- Compare groups belonging to different
age ranges, keeping the race or ethnicity and gender constant.
- Compare groups belonging to different
genders, keeping the race or ethnicity and age constant.
For example, you might compare eighteen- to twenty-four-year-old white males with eighteen- to twenty-four-year-old males of color. Another example would be comparing thirty-five- to forty-four-year-old female Latinas with sixty-five- to seventy-four-year-old female Latinas. You could also compare forty-five- to fifty-four-year-old female Asians with forty-five- to fifty-four-year-old male Asians.
For this assignment, you will first predict and then research the top causes of death for each of your chosen comparison groups. You will:
- Write a paragraph (50–100 words) in which you predict the top three causes of death for each of your chosen comparison groups.
Use the Internet to identify health disparities. You can search using the keywords "Healthy People 2020."
Conduct a comparison of the top ten causes of death across your selected populations.
- In the second paragraph (100–200 words), summarize and interpret your findings. How close was your prediction? Were there any surprises? How might you explain the results of your study?
- Explore the topic area Healthy People from the Healthy People 2020 initiative. Select a topic that is of interest to you, such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or accidents. In the third paragraph (100–150 words), review the topic selected and report on clinical recommendations, community interventions, and consumer information about the topic.
Cite any sources using APA format on a separate page.
Submit your answers in a Microsoft Word document and name your document SU_PSY4420_W1_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.