Public Health Research Paper(Ebola Outbreak)

Question

Description

Instructions

Public Health Research Paper Topic

This assignment requires that you select a public health emergency from the choices below, or you may choose a different public health emergency that is relevant to the assignment. The topic you choose should reflect thoughtful consideration and expands on what you have learned in this course.

Topic suggestions include:

Ebola outbreak (Africa) - This can be expanded on from an international approach as there have been no native cases in the US. The CDC is a great place to begin your research on the approach taken to contain and treat an Ebola outbreak within an African country.

Ebola preparedness (US) - This is an area where there has been a lot of work including establishment of reporting/detection hotlines, transport procedures, specific infection control plans, treatment protocols and tracking of citizens with potential exposures.

Pandemic flu preparedness (Including your state’s plan) - The flu has the potential to exhaust resources in any local area, as well as an entire state. The Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) has put a lot of focus on establishing plans for this potential to include the push for states to develop a pandemic plan. All healthcare providers would be impacted by a flu pandemic. Depending on your healthcare specialty, including EMS, it is important to understand the role your profession, facility or agency would have in carrying out these plans.

Midwestern floods (2015) - Flooding is not contained to the impact of excessive water from a structural perspective. The impact of flooding on a community creates public health emergencies where there is contamination of wounds, contamination of drinking water and food sources, as well as disruption of sanitation that further exacerbates the contamination risks.

Hurricanes - There is no one specific hurricane that you must focus on. The focus should be on the public health impact. This can include all of the risks associated with flooding as well as some related to loss of basic life necessities such as electricity, water, gas, and sewage management due to damage from the storms and dangerous weather associated with hurricanes.

Your research paper topic should address at least four main points that will be part of the focus of your research paper.

public health planning for the emergency,

EMS response for the emergency,

community response to the emergency, and

community recovery from the emergency.

Your research paper topic should be well-organized and at least one page in length. Within your research paper topic, discuss why you chose your topic, possible research questions you could investigate, and the availability of resources. Include three possible outside sources that you could include in your research paper (due in Unit VIII) and how you plan to use each one.