Assignment: Online Resources in the Public Health Field
Many people, laymen and healthcare professionals alike, look to the resources of the internet when researching a new medical symptom or diagnosis. The information that is found can vary drastically and, possibly, be false. Health literacy is more than just the ability to search for and read information, it is processing the meaning and usefulness of the information, it is making decisions based on information and context, it is understanding the consequences of services, and it is communicating needs and preferences. For public health professionals, it is also helping people find correct information that they can understand, it is the ability to communicate about health and healthcare, and it is interpreting accurately the needs of people in different situations.
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In all likelihood, the bulk of research conducted today occurs via the internet. Public health professionals have access to vast amounts of information. It is also very likely that information will be just as varied as it is vast. Scholar-practitioners have a responsibility to wade through the information to find that which has been critiqued and checked for accuracy.
For this Assignment, you will choose a current public health issue from the provided list of topics. Using the Walden Library, you will choose a peer-reviewed article (no more than 5 years old) and compare it to a mainstream media source on the same topic.
To Prepare for this Assignment:
Review the Learning Resources on using the library.
Choose a topic from the list below:
COVID-19
Childhood obesity
Pancreatic cancer
Falls in the elderly
Health effects of climate change
Using the Walden library, find a scholarly, peer-reviewed article on the topic that is no more than 5 years old.
Find a media source on the topic that is no more than 1 year old. The media article should be written for the general public.
Review the rubric for this Assignment.
Review both the article and media source and consider their similarities and differences in how they report on the same topic.
Download the appropriate template for writing a paper: https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general
The Assignment (3–4 pages, excluding title page and references)
Explain the process you used for finding the media article.
Summarize the media article and its findings.
Explain the process you used for finding the peer-reviewed article in the Walden library and how you determined it was peer reviewed.
Summarize the peer-reviewed article and its findings.
Compare the quality of the information from the peer-reviewed article to the mainstream media article. Note similarities and differences. How is each type of resource unique?
Explain the issues with using non-scholarly sources in your research.
Make sure to include an Introduction and a Conclusion in your paper, and follow appropriate APA style and formatting guidelines, including proper citation and referencing.