HOMEWORK GUIDE | Connecting Health Outcomes, Epidemiology, and Perspectives of Economics

The principles of epidemiology focus on public health and the measurement factors of interest for health professionals to detect associations and determine population risk. Zika, HIV, Influenza, infant morbidity, and mortality are examples of public health concerns that epidemiologists track, trend, and report. It is important to note that although some populations may appear similar geographically or demographically, when tracking epidemiological trends, populations may appear to vary significantly between states or even between counties within those states.

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This Assignment has two parts:

• Part 1: PowerPoint Presentation
  • Submit by Day 7.
• Part 2: Executive Summary 
  • Prepare an Executive Summary of your findings regarding the impact of social determinants of health on health outcomes. This summary will be posted in the Discussion Doard on Day 2 of Week 5 (next week), and will serve as your Discussion response prompt for Week 5.

To Prepare:

• Select two counties in the same state that are not similar demographically to focus on. You may want to consider the county you live or work in as one of the two counties.
• Access the National Environment Public Health Tracking Network from this week’s Learning Resources.
• Enter the following parameters:
  • Content Area: Select Heart Disease
  • Indicator: Select Mortality Rate
  • Measure: Select Age Adjusted Death Rate
  • Geographical Level: Select State by County (Data Smoothed)
  • Select a state for your data.
  • Select the most recent year available
  • Select all races/ethnicities available
• Compare the heart attack mortality rate/100,000 people for the two counties you selected.
• You can view the data as a map, chart, or table. The row that has the data of interest will allow you to select the view you want.
• Select the table view, and the click the down arrow to download the table.
• Open the table, and save an Excel file (.xlsx).
• Review the data you obtain for the two counties you selected.
• Reflect on the results that you obtain for different ethnic groups within the counties you selected.
• Access the map of uninsured rates by the U.S. Census Bureau (2015) provided in this week’s Learning Resources.
• Review and reflect on the uninsured rates for the congressional districts for the counties you selected. 

Part 1: PowerPoint Presentation

Prepare a 5- to 6-slide PowerPoint presentation that addresses the following:

• Explain the trends you observe between each of the counties you selected.
• Research and explain the social determinants of health for heart disease for the counties you selected. Be specific, and provide examples.
  • You can use the Excel sheet you saved during your data search on one of the slides. Write 2-3 comments about the data.
  • You may also choose to do research using online databases, like the CDC and WHO, or by speaking with local health professionals. Be sure to reference and cite your sources accordingly.
• What resources for addressing heart disease may be lacking in one county compared to the other?
• Describe whether the number of insured persons over the last 5 years has increased or decreased for your counties.
• Do health outcomes over this same time frame correlate with this trend? Explain your response.
• Is there a correlation between the levels of health insurance coverage, healthcare costs, or healthcare access and the health outcomes you observed?
• As a healthcare leader in the state you selected, recommend at least one program that might improve the health of the population, and explain why. Be specific, and provide examples.

Part 2: Executive Summary

• Create a 2- to 3-paragraph summary of your findings that addresses the following:
  • Be sure to include how the social determinants of health (SDOH) have impacted the health outcomes of the members of the population you researched, as well as the impact to economics perspectives.