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Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to increase your knowledge of the link between social determinants of health (SDOH) and a high priority health issue in the country chosen for the final paper and to share that information with another health care provider.

Overview

Several factors come together to create an individual’s health status. The conditions in which people are born, live, work, and age can be as influential in determining an individual’s health status as the quality of diagnosis and treatment. Health care professionals need to understand the influence of these underlying conditions to deliver the best health care possible. A good example of how these factors are intertwined is the Carter Center’s work in eradicating the guinea worm in Africa and Asia. To quote from the website: 

When The Carter Center began leading the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease in 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases in at least 21 countries in Africa and Asia. Today, that number has been reduced by more than 99.99 percent.  In 2020, 27* human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide. Between January 1 and June 30 of 2021 five human cases have been reported.  

One of the major strategies used to reach this goal was teaching individuals to filter drinking water and to not go into water if infected.  This was difficult for several reasons:  (a) lack of health care practitioners in the largely rural area, (b) the insecurity in some areas related to conflict, and (c) cost of filtration equipment.  The coordination of effort across several organizations led to the success.

The group of factors included in the SDOH are: (a) economic stability, (b) education access and quality, (c) social and community context, (d) health care access and quality, (e) neighborhood and built environment. Review the resources listed in the Instructional Materials for this module to learn more about the SDOH.  

Instruction

The focus of this assignment is twofold: (a) to strengthen your understanding of the impact of at least one of the social determinants of health on a priority health issue in the country you have chosen as the focus for the final paper and (b) to share that understanding with another health care professional.  

You will write a 300-to-350 word paper plus an email (200-250 words) that meet the following criteria:

· The paper will contain an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.  An appropriately formatted student paper title page must be included.  See the relevant section of the APA Publication Manual, 7th ed.

· Provide a short description of the country.

· Identify the (2 or 3) health issues with the highest priority in the chosen country.  Document these choices.  Choose one as the focus for the rest of this document. Describe the global health indicators you are using to identify the priority health issue.

· Identify the SDOH that has the most impact on the chosen health issue.  Be sure to fully describe the SDOH and make the connection between it and the health issue very clear. 

· Include a minimum of three (3) references. One (1) reference must be a scholarly article. References must be no more than five (5) years old.  There are no exceptions to this requirement. The Skolnik article may be used but does not count as one of the three references.  For this one paper the list of references does not need to be on a separate page. For this one paper the list of references does not need to be on a separate page. List the references (using correct APA 7th edition format) after the body of the paper. See the format for the structure of this assignment in the Instructional Materials folder  

· The email will begin two double spaces below the last reference for the body of the paper. Start the email with the date. Format the rest of the email as described in the instructions for this assignment.

· Direct the email to any healthcare provider who is NOT a nurse.  Make sure that the discipline of the healthcare provider is clear in the email.  You do not know whether this healthcare provider is or is not aware of the SDOH literature; consequently, SDOH information must be provided without offending the healthcare professional.

. Provide a brief description of the concept of SDOH.

. Explain the link between the SDOH and the identified healthcare priority.  It is possible that more than one of the SDOH categories will be applicable. 

. Support your choices with scholarly references. You must use a minimum of three (3) references. These references may be the same as those used in the body of the paper if they are clearly appropriate. Skolnik may be used but does not count as one of the three (3) references.

. The length of the email is to be between 200 and 250 words.