Epidemiology: Define Your Population and Selected Problem
Overview: This week, you will further refine your population and problem and compare your suspicions about this problem to local, state, and national data on the topic. Your practicum project should come into clear focus as you continue to analyze related health data, and you should consider how you, as the nurse, might help them avoid the development of the problem in the first place (primary prevention measures).
Practicum Discussion: This week your assignment is to collect and then refine health data about the issue that affects your population group. You will use scholarly professional literature to support your ideas about the population at risk. If data is not available for your population on a local level, then use county or state data. Some examples of health data that you might consider gathering are epidemiologic information related to health conditions, reproductive outcomes, causes of death, vital statistics, socioeconomic data including poverty and/or educational levels, quality of life issues, and/or lack of access to health care due to lack of health insurance or access to providers. You will want to compare local data with state and national trends to fully understand the extent of the selected problem in your community.
Please address the following points in your Practicum Discussion:
Describe the specific health problem and population you have selected.
What data did you find to support your decision? Help each other further refine and clarify the problem and population.
What useful health data and public health websites did you locate to support your position?
What other evidence did you find? You can include scholarly articles in this discussion.
