Health Education Proposal

Students will target a health and wellness issue and population/community of their choosing and, based on the principles learned in this course, propose a health education program to reduce or eliminate the issue. Students will have had their target health and wellness issue and population/community approved by the instructor before writing their proposal paper. The choice of health and wellness issue and corresponding health education program should relate to a topic covered in this course and may be wide-ranging, such as chronic diseases (e.g., obesity), mental illnesses, stress-related health issues, and so on. Further, the choice of population/community may be of varied scope and scale (from a small community to the entire United States), and the proposed program may include one component (e.g., education) or multiple components (e.g., education, modifying the built environment, and passing new laws). Specific guidelines are discussed below:

1. This assignment is to write a 1,000-word proposal paper (not including the title

page or references page), which includes a minimum of 5 scholarly references, not including the textbook or lectures.

2. The content of the Health Education Program Proposal Paper should cover four key

areas: • The need for the program – what impacts does the health and wellness issue

have on individuals and communities? For example, does it reduce life expectancy? How does it impact functioning and quality of life? Is it expensive for our healthcare systems once individuals are infected? How you describe the need for the strategy will vary based on your health and wellness issue, but you should make a clear case why it warrants immediate attention.

• The current state of the health and wellness issue – in other words, what does the issue “look like”? For example, what are the incidence and prevalence rates? Are there disparities by race/ethnicity, geographic location, etc., in risk or outcome?

• What is known about the causal nature of the health and wellness issue – what do we know about the issue and what causes it? For example, what is the process between exposure and health outcome (e.g., how does stress lead individuals to get sick)? Does it spread to others? What is known about major causes of the issue? Are there any comorbid (i.e., overlapping; co-occurring) conditions associated with the issue?

• What type of program should be implemented to address the health and wellness issue? This is the “program” portion of the proposal. This portion of the proposal is where you will be creative by suggesting how we should try to implement the concepts, theories, and principles of health education learned in this course prevent or eliminate the health and wellness issue. This program should make sense given what you describe in the previous three key areas, and especially the third (the causal nature of the issue). The program will not be

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judged by the feasibility of its implementation, but rather on the rationale behind the ideas.

3. The proposal should be well-organized. It should roughly cover the four key areas in

order, although variance from this order is acceptable if it enhances readability. The paper should have a brief introduction and conclusion as well.

4. Word usage should be excellent, and the flow of the proposal should enhance

readability. 5. The proposal should be proofread. Any spelling, punctuation, or other such errors

should be corrected before submitting the final version. 6. The proposal should meet the technical guidelines (see below)

Technical Guidelines

1. The paper should have a minimum of 5 scholarly references, not including the textbook or lectures.

2. All papers should have 1″ margins on all sides 3. Font should be 12-point Times New Roman (yes…even the running head and page

numbers) 4. Text should be double-spaced 5. You should have a title page containing the title of the paper, the author’s

name, and the institutional affiliation. 6. Include the page header (also known as the “running head) at the top of every

page. To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type “TITLE OF YOUR PAPER” in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper’s title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

7. Please note that on the title page, your page header/running head should

look like this: Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER

8. Pages after the title page should have a running head that

looks like this: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER

9. References start on a separate page from the paper. Refer to the APA Manual for information on formatting a reference page.

HEA 3316: Health Education Program Proposal Paper
Instructions and Technical Guideline