Physical Health Trajectory
This assignment helps you explore your potential trajectory of physical health across adulthood, using the information you have learned in this class and research gathered from reputable sources.
According to the Merriam-Webster (Links to an external site.), a trajectory is defined as “a path, progression, or line of development.”
Your description of your own trajectory must include details about what you imagine will happen to you across adulthood, by describing multiple points along the path and the progression of your physical health across time.
Objective: You are to write about your health trajectory from your current age (or younger) and describe how aspects of this trajectory change or remain stable across your adulthood. Use these articles (see Instructions below), observations, and imagination to describe your health trajectory.
As youve read in Chapter 4, there are many factors that can influence how long well live. These tools might be useful for this assignment because you can better understand how your family health history and health behaviors are likely to affect your life expectancy.
Calculator 1: Life Calculator (Links to an external site.)
Calculator 2: Northwest Mutual Lifespan Calculator (Links to an external site.)
This one is particularly interesting because you can see how different health behaviors change your lifespan results.
Instructions
In this homework assignment, you will write about your life from your present age up to, and including, your death. Changes in your physical health are the focus of this assignment. The paper is not entirely fictional – it should draw upon the scientific literature (see below) that may be relevant to the trajectories you imagine for your future life.
Find two scientific journal articles (1 journal article and 1 government website are acceptable) to help you obtain research-based information about your potential health issues.
Make sure that your trajectory discusses your physical health at all of the various life stages in adulthood (young adulthood, mid-life, and late life).
It is not adequate to describe your physical health currently and then describe your anticipated physical health in late life, with no mention of what will occur in middle adulthood.
If you experience a health condition and find it difficult to discuss these details, especially as they pertain to your health outcomes and eventual death, please feel free to create a fictional health trajectory.
Questions to answer:
Describe how health status, family histories of disease, and health behaviors influence each individuals health trajectory and longevity.
Include these factors as you map out your own health trajectory.
Draw on material from the textbook to explain these factors.
Describe your current health. Do you have any health issues that might affect your long-term health outcomes? Does your social status (e.g., ethnicity, gender, education, socioeconomic status) make you susceptible to any type of illness? Have you been exposed to environmental toxins?
Describe any diseases that run in your family. Talk to someone in your family about your medical family history. Does your family history put you at risk for changes in your health trajectory?
How are your health behavior habits? Are you a couch potato, a moderate exerciser, or an elite athlete? If you are a football player or gymnast, what are your chances of developing severe musculoskeletal problems in midlife? Does your physical activity (e.g., dancing, wrestling) put you at risk for eating disorders? What are the probable long-term effects of your patterns of consumption of food, alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs? Do you do anything to mitigate risk factors in your background?
Please note that you must have a specific and plausible cause of death (NOT just dying in your sleep). I understand that this might be a difficult subject for some individuals, so choose something that you can comfortably discuss. Try to keep in mind that this is an exercise in applying the knowledge gained through this course and nothing more.
Please submit your assignment in APA format.
Times New Roman 12pt font, double spaced, 1 margins.
