Category: Public Health

Final Project: Background Paper

This week, you will summarize the key background information needed to define the problem in detail, including why it is a problem, the main causes of the problem, the severity of the problem, who is affected by the problem, and previous attempts to solve the problem.
Gather the key background information on the specific problem you described in your last week’s problem statement to further examine and better understand the gap you identified in Week 2.
Recall the following example:
Recently, nail salons have been the focus of worker safety initiatives because they use hazardous chemicals such as methacrylates, acetates, toluene, and formaldehydes. Are consumers adequately protected from hazardous chemicals when they receive services in the nail salons?
The background information to be gathered for the above example would include the key types of information needed by a reader to understand the problem statement, which include the following:
The main health hazards of the chemicals listed
Chemical exposure levels in nail salons
The types of worker safety initiatives in progress and information on the groups or agencies that are undertaking these initiatives
Differences in exposure levels when salon workers and salon patrons are compared (average duration of exposure is an important component of this)
Identification of any vulnerable populations of consumers, such as pregnant women
Write a 3 to 5-page background paper in a Microsoft Word document addressing the following:
Begin by stating the 2- to 3-sentence problem statement that you submitted in Week 2.
Provide, in a succinct manner, the key types of information needed by a reader to understand what the problem is and why it is a problem. This includes information such as how big the problem is, who is affected, and the time trends in the problem.
Provide factual information needed to understand the problem at the local, national, and global level (background). Include disparities (disadvantaged populations that are disproportionately affected by the problem or vulnerable populations).
Include appropriate statistics to document the extent of the problem, medical definitions of pertinent health problems or diseases, pollutant sources, and toxicity profiles of chemicals as indicated.
Be sure to provide enough information for the reader to fully understand the question you posed in your problem statement.
End the paper with a transitional statement that leads toward (but not yet discussed) the topics of Weeks 4 and 5, namely, the landscape and the stakeholders involved in the problem and the range of options available to address the problem.

Discuss the hazards of nonoccupational exposure to lead dust and fumes in the United States. People discovered the ease with which lead metal could be molded into useful objects thousands of years ago. Before long, ancient medical writers began describing myriad occupational health problems suffered by heavily exposed lead miners and smelters. In time, health problems from nonoccupational exposure to lead at lower doses were also discovered
Discuss the adverse health effects of lead that occur at high levels of exposure in the context of a poisoning case. Review briefly a famous nonoccupational lead poisoning (plumbism) case from the past and list the health problems due to lead that this individual suffered.
Contrast the symptoms from high lead exposure to the adverse health effects of lead that occur at lower levels of exposure.
Describe one way in which nonoccupational exposure to lead occurs in the United States today through drinking, eating or other ingestion, or through breathing. Give an example of a typical exposure scenario for the route of exposure you choose.
Review the key public health preventive strategies used in the United States to prevent illness from lead exposure for the route of exposure you choose. Include primary prevention (stopping the exposure from occurring) and secondary prevention (detecting lead-exposed persons, treating them when medically warranted, and preventing additional exposure in the future).
Support your answers with appropriate research and reasoning and initiate comments on the postings of at least two of your peers.

Final Project: Background Paper

This week, you will summarize the key background information needed to define the problem in detail, including why it is a problem, the main causes of the problem, the severity of the problem, who is affected by the problem, and previous attempts to solve the problem.

For this assignment:

Gather the key background information on the specific problem you described in your last week’s problem statement to further examine and better understand the gap you identified in Week 2.
Recall the following example:
Recently, nail salons have been the focus of worker safety initiatives because they use hazardous chemicals such as methacrylates, acetates, toluene, and formaldehydes. Are consumers adequately protected from hazardous chemicals when they receive services in the nail salons?
The background information to be gathered for the above example would include the key types of information needed by a reader to understand the problem statement, which include the following:
The main health hazards of the chemicals listed
Chemical exposure levels in nail salons
The types of worker safety initiatives in progress and information on the groups or agencies that are undertaking these initiatives
Differences in exposure levels when salon workers and salon patrons are compared (average duration of exposure is an important component of this)
Identification of any vulnerable populations of consumers, such as pregnant women
Write a 3 to 5-page background paper in a Microsoft Word document addressing the following:
Begin by stating the 2- to 3-sentence problem statement that you submitted in Week 2.
Provide, in a succinct manner, the key types of information needed by a reader to understand what the problem is and why it is a problem. This includes information such as how big the problem is, who is affected, and the time trends in the problem.
Provide factual information needed to understand the problem at the local, national, and global level (background). Include disparities (disadvantaged populations that are disproportionately affected by the problem or vulnerable populations).
Include appropriate statistics to document the extent of the problem, medical definitions of pertinent health problems or diseases, pollutant sources, and toxicity profiles of chemicals as indicated.
Be sure to provide enough information for the reader to fully understand the question you posed in your problem statement.
End the paper with a transitional statement that leads toward (but not yet discussed) the topics of Weeks 4 and 5, namely, the landscape and the stakeholders involved in the problem and the range of options available to address the problem.

Hazards of Exposure to Lead

Discuss the hazards of nonoccupational exposure to lead dust and fumes in the United States. People discovered the ease with which lead metal could be molded into useful objects thousands of years ago. Before long, ancient medical writers began describing myriad occupational health problems suffered by heavily exposed lead miners and smelters. In time, health problems from nonoccupational exposure to lead at lower doses were also discovered.

In your response, address the following:

Discuss the adverse health effects of lead that occur at high levels of exposure in the context of a poisoning case. Review briefly a famous nonoccupational lead poisoning (plumbism) case from the past and list the health problems due to lead that this individual suffered.
Contrast the symptoms from high lead exposure to the adverse health effects of lead that occur at lower levels of exposure.
Describe one way in which nonoccupational exposure to lead occurs in the United States today through drinking, eating or other ingestion, or through breathing. Give an example of a typical exposure scenario for the route of exposure you choose.
Review the key public health preventive strategies used in the United States to prevent illness from lead exposure for the route of exposure you choose. Include primary prevention (stopping the exposure from occurring) and secondary prevention (detecting lead-exposed persons, treating them when medically warranted, and preventing additional exposure in the future).
Support your answers with appropriate research and reasoning and initiate comments on the postings of at least two of your peers.

Identification of the Final Project Topic

For this week’s assignment:

Identify an environmental or occupational exposure to a chemical or group of chemicals in which you are interestedthe topic for your final project. For ideas about topics, you can consult the following sources:
The textbook
The environmental health topics section of the CDC website
The environmental health topics section of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) website
The toxic substances section of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) website
The case studies in environmental medicine from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) website
The hazards and exposures section and the chemicals section of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH’s) website. NIOSH is a part of the CDC.
Determine how your chosen exposure affects human populations, i.e., the health problems or disease caused by this chemical or group of chemicals.
Choose a topic that is not overly broad. For example:
Choose one chemical: Lead exposure will make a better topic than exposure to toxic heavy metals, which include lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium, etc. (described in the textbook).
Choose a specific population at risk: This population is exposed either to one chemical or to a closely related group of chemicals, such as pesticide exposure to children in agricultural families or occupational exposure to organic solvents among pregnant women.
Write a 3 to 5-page paper in a Microsoft Word document addressing the following:
Describe the chosen environmental or occupational exposure.
Explain the importance of this exposure problem to human health in terms of both of the following issues:
The extent of exposure, e.g., the estimated number of people exposed
The seriousness of disease or diseases associated with the exposure to the substance or group of substances
Describe the population you will study (e.g., the whole population, individuals living in poverty, children, pregnant women, workers in specific occupations, etc.
Explain why you are interested in the environmental or occupational public health problem you selected and the population you selected.

This is going to lead into the final project

For the final project, you will create an environmental-occupational public health analysis report. Each week, you will complete a portion of the report and will progressively integrate concepts from the course. This project will provide an opportunity for you to learn in-depth about a specific environmental or occupational determinant of public health focusing on the magnitude and significance of the problem, affected populations (potentially disparities), and the current strategies for elimination or reduction of the problem. The week-wise final project assignments are structured as follows:

Week 1: Topic identification

Week 2: Statement of the problem

Week 3: Background information on the problem

Week 4: Landscape and stakeholders

Week 5: Range of options for addressing the problem

Each week, you will write a report, addressing the questions posed in the assignment for that week.