Project Milestone Three: Program Analysis and Project Milestone Four: Recommendations

PHE 525 Milestone Three Guidelines and Rubric Not all public health programs are effective. Many programs fail because the administrators have not fully assessed the barriers and issues that contribute to the public health issue. Understanding the target population is one of the most important elements for implementing a successful public health program. It is critical that public health practitioners have in-depth knowledge of the social and behavioral factors that may contribute to a higher likelihood of disease in the target population, as well as the theoretical and practical approaches to address those risk factors. However, the understanding of social and behavioral factors is not limited to the target population but the community as a whole. The community has to fully understand the extent of the public health issue and accept that intervention is required so that the community can be healthy. For example: The public health issue is hepatitis C infections transmitted through the sharing of hypodermic needles, and the program is a needle exchange. The target population is IV drug users with specific social and behavioral risks; the behavioral risk factor is sharing of needles, and the social risk factor is the lack of access to clean needles. The social and behavioral risk factors for the community as a whole may be different and may impede the program. Community members may distrust government programs, may distrust outsiders coming into their community, or may believe that the dispensing of needles may increase drug use. The success of the needle exchange program relies on addressing the risks of the target population and the social and behavioral factors that will prevent community support. Prompt: Write a short paper that critically analyzes the public health program you have selected for your final project. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

 Provide an overview of the program, including the public health issue, administrating agency, time, setting, and population; include the social and behavioral risk factors that are associated with this public health issue

 Determine the social and behavioral risk factors that are being addressed by the program, and include the theoretical approaches used in the program to facilitate social and behavioral change in the target population, as well as the social and behavioral theoretical strategies employed by the program to engage the community

 Examine the social and behavioral factors that the program neglected to identify and address why these social and behavioral factors are important, justifying your response with specific examples from the literature

 Analyze the public health data and trends to determine whether the program has met the intended outcome

 Summarize the overall impact of the program, including its successes, failures, strengths, and weaknesses, and indicate and explain opportunities for improvement

Rubric Guidelines for Submission: The paper must be 6–7 pages in length. It should be double-spaced and formatted with 12-point Times New Roman font and one- inch margins. All sources must be cited in APA format. Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions.

Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value Overview Meets “Proficient” criteria and

relates to real-world examples and other programs

Provides a clear and concise overview of the program that includes all the key elements and provides ample, relevant detail

Provides an overview of the program but lacks relevant detail

Does not provide an overview of the program

10

Theoretical Approaches and

Strategies

Meets “Proficient” criteria and uses references from peer- reviewed literature to further explain the significance of the theoretical approaches used to facilitate change in the target population and to engage the community

Clearly and succinctly determines the social and behavioral risk factors that are addressed by the program, clearly describes the theoretical approaches used to facilitate social and behavioral change in the target population, and clearly explains the social and behavioral theoretical strategies used to engage the community

Determines the social and behavioral risk factors that are addressed by the program, but has difficulty determining and explaining the theoretical approaches used to facilitate social and behavioral change in the target population and the social and behavioral theoretical strategies used to engage the community; response lacks clarity

Does not determine the social and behavioral risk factors that are addressed by the program, and does not describe the theoretical approaches used to facilitate social and behavioral change in the target population nor explain the social and behavioral theoretical strategies used to engage the community

40

Neglected to Identify Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides outcomes data of other public health programs that considered these social and behavioral factors

Discovers relevant social and behavioral factors that the program neglected to identify and address, supports response with examples from the literature, and provides ample, relevant detail

Discovers some social and behavioral factors that the program neglected to identify and address, but fails to justify response with examples from the literature and lacks relevant detail

Does not discover social and behavioral factors that the program neglected to identify and address

15

Data and Trends Meets “Proficient” criteria and illustrates through the use of supporting visuals such as charts, graphs, and tables

Analyzes the appropriate data and trends to determine the success of the program

Analyzes the data and trends but fails to use the information appropriately to determine the success of the program and/or data is not relevant

Does not analyze the data and trends to determine the success of the program

15

Overall Impact Meets “Proficient” criteria and uses evidence to support opportunities for improvement

Clearly and succinctly summarizes the overall impact of the program for all the key elements as indicated in the prompt and uses ample, relevant detail

Summarizes the impact of the program but response lacks clarity and relevant detail

Does not summarize the impact of the program

15

Articulation of Response

(APA/Mechanics)

Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to- read format

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

5

Total 100%