Discussion: Emerging Diseases (Environmental Health)

Discussion: Emerging Diseases (Environmental Health)

Discussion: Emerging Diseases (Environmental Health)

Question Description
Emerging Diseases
Assessment Instructions
This assessment requires you to write a report assessing the basic environmental health principles, theories, and issues of an emerging or reemerging disease.

To begin, select one emerging or reemerging disease to research for this report. Note: The WHO Emerging Diseases and CDC Web sites (both linked in the Resources under the Internet Resources heading) list a variety of relevant diseases.

Then, craft a 3–4-page report that analyzes the disease and addresses the following points:

Provide a brief historical account of the disease selected. Consider why this disease is emerging or reemerging.
What areas of the globe are currently affected by this disease?
How is it transmitted?
What is the incubation period?
What is the treatment for this disease?
What is the role of vaccines in combatting this disease? If there is no vaccine, why not?
What is the predicted prognosis of recovery and residual effect?
Your report should be logically organized around a point you would like to make regarding the emerging or reemerging disease you select. Consider the MEAL Plan to help organize your thoughts:

Main Idea: What is the main point or idea that you want your reader to remember about this disease?
Evidence: What does the research say? Support your point with evidence from the literature you have researched. (This is where you would include facts about the history, transmission, incubation, treatment, and prevention of the disease. Refer to your sources when you provide your evidence.)
Assess: Summarize main ideas from articles related to the disease. Apply health principles and theories that relate directly or indirectly to your main point. Make explicit links between source articles and your current report.
Link: Integrate and combine information from your source articles to your main point or idea.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Use the APA Paper Template (linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading) to format your report.

Written Communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
Length: This report should be 3–4 pages in content length. Include a separate title page and a separate references page.
Font and Font Size: Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced. Use Microsoft Word.
APA Formatting: Resources and in-text citations should be formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting.
Number of Resources: You are required to cite a minimum of 2 scholarly resources. You may conduct independent research for resources and references to support your report. Provide a reference list and in-text citations for all of your resources, using APA format. You may cite texts and authors from the Resources.

Overview
Create a 3–4-page report on the basic environmental health principles, theories, and issues of an emerging or reemerging disease.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Assess basic environmental health principles, theories, and issues.
Analyze an emerging or reemerging disease.
Describe how an emerging disease is transmitted.
Describe the incubation period of an emerging disease.
Describe how an emerging disease is treated.
Predict prognosis of recovery and residual effects of an emerging disease.
Assess the role of vaccines in disease prevention.
Competency 4: Communicate effectively in a variety of formats.
Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics

Context
To understand emerging and reemerging diseases, you must first understand the interconnectedness between human health and the environment and have a grasp on epidemiology. The Assessment 1 Context document for this assessment provides a brief overview of the concept of interconnectedness and the field of epidemiology. You may wish to review this document for key ideas and information.

Questions to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

In your own words, what is your definition of environmental health? Why?
Is environmental health is a global issue? Why or why not?
Is environmental health an individual concern? Why or why not?
Do you think most Americans understand the term environmental health? Why or why not?
Some people feel vaccination should be voluntary and not mandated. What is a reasonable argument to support that position?
What is an emerging or reemerging disease?

Resources
REQUIRED RESOURCES
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.

Capella Resources
Click the links provided to view the following resources:

APA Paper Template.
SUGGESTED RESOURCES
The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Capella Resources
Click the links provided to view the following resources:

Assessment 1 Context.

Click the links provided below to view the following multimedia pieces:
Capella Multimedia
Hydrologic Cycle | Transcript.
Library Resources
The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:

Friis, R. H. (2012). The Praeger handbook of environmental health. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Introduction: “Current Status of Environmental Health.”
Volume 1: Foundations of the Field.
Chapter 1, “Ecology and Environmental or Ecosystem Health.”
Volume 2: Agents of Disease.
Chapter 1, “Microbial Agents: Zoonotic.”
Chapter 2, “Environment and Vector-Borne Diseases.”
Chapter 3, “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and the Environment.”
Bade, D. (2012). Freshwater carbon and biogeochemical cycles. In S. A. Levin, S. R. Carpenter, & H. C. J. Godfray (Eds.), The Princeton guide to ecology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pyhtila, H. (2008). Plastics, pesticides, and pills are contaminating our drinking supply. Earth Island Journal, 23(3), 45–48.
This article exposes a specific issue of global concern by describing the impact of humans on water quality. It provides a suggestion for reducing impact on the environment and for protecting personal health.
Koch, K. (2000, August 25). Vaccine controversies: Are today’s vaccines safe enough? CQ Researcher, 10(28), 641–672.
Bristol, N. (2007, May 11). HPV vaccine: Should it be mandatory for school girls? CQ Researcher, 17(18), 409–432.
Kelley, T., & Covi, M. (2013). Environmental health hazardscapes. Environmental Health Insights, 7, 67–69.
Course Library Guide
A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BIO-FP2000 – Environmental Health Library Guide to help direct your research.

Internet Resources
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2014). IPCC. Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/
World Health Organization. (2014). Emerging diseases. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/emerging_diseases/en/
National Institute of Health and Infectious Diseases. (n.d.). Emerging infectious diseases/pathogens. Retrieved from https://www.niaid.nih.gov/
Bookstore Resources
The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the Capella University Bookstore. When searching the bookstore, be sure to look for the Course ID with the specific –FP (FlexPath) course designation.

Hilgenkamp, K. (2006). Environmental health: Ecological perspectives. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Chapter 1, “Environmental Principles and Ecology.” This chapter provides an introduction to the structure of the earth, fundamentals of ecology and ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles. The information in this chapter will help you evaluate the impact humans make on the environment.
Chapter 2, “Humans and Global Issues.” This chapter provides an introduction to environmental issues of global concern, and describes how and why global collaboration is necessary to solve these problems.
Chapter 4, “Epidemiology and Environmental Diseases.” The purpose of this reading is to help you understand the basics of epidemiology, how immunity and genetics influence disease prevention, how disease can be transmitted, and how to protect yourself.

 

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.