This assignment is a synthesis of all that you have learned in this unit over the semester from the readings, lectures and tutorials.
Select a health promotion program/intervention that you would like to analyse. Choose a particular, named discrete program rather than writing generally about a type/style/method of intervention. You are free to choose a health issue, target group, risk factor, health behaviour, and intervention type of personal interest. The intervention can have taken place in an Australian or an international setting.
Check with your tutor if you are unsure of your choice. Note that you are unable to choose the
program/intervention that is the subject of the sample assignment provided to you in Assessments on Blackboard.
The intervention can work at an individual, group, community or population level – or can work at more than one of these levels.
Ensure that you carefully select a program that:
• Has been well evaluated and there is proof of success – there must be evidence that it has made a positive difference to one or more of the following: health determinants; relevant settings/environments; knowledge; attitudes; beliefs; risk factors; and/or behaviours. The intervention may also have had a measurable impact on prevalence, incidence, mortality or morbidity of the health issue it was targeting.
• Has sufficient information available to you such as several published peer-reviewed journal articles and/or program evaluation reports produced by the organisation/s involved in the intervention. DO NOT choose an intervention for which you cannot find enough detailed information.
In addition to a crafted introduction which orients your reader to the health issue and program chosen (as well as the purpose and organisation of the assignment) and a succinct conclusion, you are required to present five main sections of approximately 500-600 words each:
1. Briefly summarise the main elements of the intervention. Give a succinct overview so the following sections can be read in the context of what the intervention entailed. Clearly name the program and cite your source/s. (Note that you will need to continue to cite the sources throughout the rest of your assignment – even if they are exactly the same as the source/s introduced in this section. There are academic integrity issues if you expect your reader to work out that everything you write about a program throughout your assignment is from the one or two sources cited in this early section.)
2. Discuss why your chosen program is a health promotion intervention. Refer to the Ottawa Charter, Jakarta Declaration, Bangkok Charter and other sources as appropriate.
3. Discuss the theoretical underpinnings of the intervention. Some programs may explicitly state the theory, model or framework that informed the development their intervention – while
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others will require you to carefully consider and conclude which theory/theories, model/s or framework are likely to have influenced the design and delivery of the intervention. See the useful theory readings provided in the assessment folder in Assessments on Blackboard.
4. Discuss how the values, attitudes and beliefs of the target group influenced the intervention design and delivery. Undertake a literature review to discover evidence about the target group to support your comments. The articles or reports you use may be published research about the target audience which is unrelated to the articles/reports about the actual intervention you are analysing. You are looking for information about the target group’s values, attitudes, beliefs (and culture) and how the program took them into account (or you think they likely took them into account) so as to make the program more effective.
5. Describe the factors that contributed to the success of the intervention. Critical analysis (with supporting information sources cited as appropriate) is required. What did they do that was best-practice health promotion? You may cite the program’s practitioners if they discuss in their publication/s why they thought that they were successful. You may find an analysis of their work by other authors that you can cite. Additionally, you can also share your own observations based on the understandings you have developed this semester. Think of all that you have considered in your lectures and readings over the semester as to what constitutes best-practice health promotion action. While you would not cite your own conclusion, you might cite a source (e.g. the textbook) that supports your statement that a particular program element contributed to success.
It is Curtin policy that assignment work previously submitted in part or total for any other unit at any university cannot be submitted for this unit. It is essential that you do not chose the same topic as any other assignment that you have completed (or will complete this semester) for other units. If the topic is similar, you must ensure that no parts of your assignment are copied word-for-word from one to another. Early submission to check your Turnitin report is advised.
Marking criteria and feedback guide:
Carefully read the feedback guide (i.e. rubric) under Assessments in Blackboard to ensure you have met the required criteria before submission.
You are required to use information presented in the published literature. It can be very frustrating – particularly if you have personal experience working with your chosen target group – but you cannot write down information that you personally know or ‘everyone’ working in the area knows. It is important for you to spend time exploring the published literature – which is available to students, researchers and many practitioners – and draw your conclusions from the evidence presented. You are required to support your comments using information from a range of current peer-reviewed and reputable sources – journal articles, books and reports from reputable university, government and/or health organisations. Find the most current information on that issue that you can. Ensure that you are not basing your argument on information that was later disproven or moderated after further research. Many of your references would thus be published within the last 10 years. However, it is understood that you will cite older information if you find evaluations of early programs that were never repeated/republished once the efficacy of an intervention was proven. Additionally, you will cite original publications of theoretical or conceptual models that form the basis of current health promotion practice (e.g. Ottawa Charter in 1986).
It is expected that you will source your information from at least 15 appropriate sources. Take care not to overuse websites (use no more than 3) and ensure that you only use academically credible websites. Note that, if you have downloaded a report as a PDF document from a reputable website, for example WHO or AIHW, it counts as a report rather than a website.
Please present information in prose. DO NOT include any graphs, tables, flowcharts or appendices. Note that the word count is NOT to include the title page, contents page, or reference list but the word count DOES include in-text referencing (i.e. author-date citations). Present your paper in
accordance with the requirements described in School of Public Health Postgraduate Guide to Assignment Presentation (see Assessments in Blackboard). You are expected to follow the guidelines on the writing style required by the guide and to write using appropriate, non-discriminatory language. Submit your paper with a title page with declaration, contents page, numbered headings and subheadings and a reference list starting on a new page.