Scholar-Practitioner Project
Scholar-Practitioner Project (15–16 pages, excluding title page and references):
- Introduction: Summarize the community and the health issue as identified in the Scholar-Practitioner Project—Community Health Assessment from PUBH8450. If you did not create one, you may write your own summary based on an assessment posted by the New York State Department of Health as a training example in this week’s Learning Resources.
- Describe the primary health issue in the community and the type of evidence-based solution or intervention needed in that community.
- Synthesize the data that support the need for intervention.
- State concisely one or more possible theories that might guide the intervention, and explain why you chose that theory(ies).
- State the key objectives of the intervention and how they link to the theory(ies) or parts of the theory(ies).
- Explain how the theories could drive the intervention. Which elements of the theories work well and which do not apply to your intervention?
- Compare the chosen theory(ies) with two other theories, and explain why certain elements or entire theories were rejected.
- Describe strengths and weaknesses of the theory(ies) you chose.
- Describe how you might apply the theory(ies) using other theory-based examples from the literature of interventions for this public health issue.
- If appropriate, could your study use a conceptual framework? If so, briefly explain how this conceptual framework could fit with your intervention.
- Provide a brief summary of your Scholar-Practitioner Project.
Support your Scholar-Practitioner Project with specific references to all resources used from the current literature used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
The Scholar-Practitioner Project aims to address the health issue identified in the Community Health Assessment from PUBH8450. The project focuses on a specific community and the primary health issue affecting that community.
The primary health issue in the identified community is a high incidence of obesity among children. To address this issue, an evidence-based solution is needed that focuses on promoting healthy eating habits and increasing physical activity among children.
The data support the need for intervention as the prevalence of childhood obesity in the community is above the state average. Studies show that interventions that focus on improving healthy eating habits and physical activity levels can effectively reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.
One possible theory that could guide this intervention is the Social Cognitive Theory. This theory suggests that behavior is shaped by personal factors, environmental factors, and behavior or the interaction between the individual and the environment. The theory emphasizes the importance of self-efficacy – the belief in one’s ability to perform a behavior – as a factor that influences behavior.
The key objective of the intervention is to increase physical activity levels and promote healthy eating habits among children in the community. The Social Cognitive Theory will drive the intervention as it emphasizes the importance of personal and environmental factors in shaping behavior. The self-efficacy component will also be critical in the intervention as it will be important to build the children’s belief in their ability to adopt healthy behaviors.
When comparing the chosen theory with two other theories, the Ecological Model and the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory, both were rejected because they did not adequately address the personal and environmental factors that influence behavior.
The strengths of the Social Cognitive Theory include its ability to account for the complex interplay between personal and environmental factors as well as its emphasis on self-efficacy. However, a potential weakness is that it may not fully account for the social and cultural factors that may affect behavior.
To apply the theory, the example of a successful intervention that employed the Social Cognitive Theory – the Body and Soul program for African American churches – could be used. This program successfully increased fruit and vegetable intake among participants through the promotion of self-efficacy and environmental changes.
A conceptual framework could be used in this study to further guide the intervention. For example, the Health Belief Model could be used to address the beliefs that children and their parents hold about the adoption of healthy behavior.
Overall, the Scholar-Practitioner Project aims to address the health issue of childhood obesity in the identified community by implementing an evidence-based intervention that is guided by the Social Cognitive Theory and other relevant theories and frameworks. The intervention will focus on increasing physical activity levels and promoting healthy eating habits among children in the community.
