Public health professionals must master the research skills to necessary to successfully find evidence-based initiatives.  These initiatives include programs, policies, and interventions that have been scientifically evaluated and proved to work.  Students will search for and report initiatives that are effective in reducing the problems associated with the Healthy Campus topic of their choice.

Technical Requirements:

• 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins
• Correct spelling, grammar, and sentence structure
• Submit to the correct link in assignments. This uploads your paper to a plagiarism detection device.  See plagiarism information under Institutional Policies.
• Cite all sources using APA referencing style.  See APA Style Citation Guide in Canvas (Links to an external site.).
  • Do not need to include APA formatting (for example, title page, running head, or abstract)
• Use headings to separate information into required content as stated below. Click here to view example paper. 

Content Requirements:

Introduction paragraph

• Define evidence-based public health.
• Describe the importance of evidence-based public health.
• Include how it relates to your topic.
  • For example: Effective programs decrease the rates of diabetes in at-risk populations.
• Cite your source(s) for this information.

Initiatives recommended by a Professional Organization

• Identify a professional organization that makes recommendations for effective prevention programing for your topic.
  • For example, the CDC recommends certain types of interventions that have been proven to be effective at preventing Diabetes. A report can be viewed athttp://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/PublicHealthCompedium.pdf (Links to an external site.).
• Choose at least 3 types of programs/policies/initiatives that the organization recommends.
• Describe each program/policy/intervention in a separate paragraph. Include:
  • A brief description of the type of intervention
  • Length: Minimum of at least 4 sentences for each paragraph

Initiatives found using your research method of choice

• Identify how you usually find research-based information (USF Library search engine, Goggle Scholar, etc.). In 2-3 sentences describe your go-to search tool/engine and for what purposes you have used it in the past.
• Use this search tool/engine to find at least 3 effective programs/policies/interventions. Only choose programs that:
  • Change behavior or overall health outcomes.
    • Do NOT include programs that change knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and other non-behavioral outcomes.
    • An exception to this can be bystander intervention for topics such as suicide, rape, and violence.
    • Programs must DO something, not just study a topic.
  • Are effective in improving health outcomes. Don’t include ineffective programs.
  • Focus on the target population and NOT the general adult population. This can include college students, high school students, or young adults.
• Describe each program/policy/intervention in a separate paragraph. Include:
  • A brief description of the program, including the components that made it effective
  • A brief explanation of the results. For example: This program improved (health outcome) by X%.
  • Length: Minimum of at least 4 sentences for each paragraph
• At the end of this section BRIEFLY:
  • Out of all the search terms, indicate which search terms that were most effective in retrieving the information you needed.
  • Indicate how long it took to narrow your search terms enough that you could find the information you needed

Initiatives found using PubMed

• In 2-3 sentences describe what PubMed is and explain for what purposes (if any) you have used it in the past.
  • Include if you have used filters in PubMed before this assignment
• USE THESE SPECIFIC STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS, which will indicate specific filters to narrow your search results.
• Use this search tool/engine to find at least 3 effective programs/policies/interventions. Only choose programs that:
  • Change behavior or overall health outcomes.
    • Do NOT include programs that change knowledge,attitudes, perceptions, and other non-behavioral outcomes.
    • An exception to this can be bystander intervention for topics such as suicide, rape, and violence.
    • Programs must DO something, not just study a topic.
  • Are effective in improving health outcomes. Don’t include ineffective programs.
  • Focus on the target population and NOT the general adult population. This can include college students, high school students, or young adults.
• Describe each program/policy/intervention in a separate paragraph. Include:
  • A brief description of the program, including the components that made it effective
  • A brief explanation of the results. For example: This program improved (health outcome) by X%.
  • Length: Minimum of at least 4 sentences for each paragraph
• At the end of this section BRIEFLY:
  • Out of all the search terms, indicate which search terms that were most effective in retrieving the information you needed.
  • Indicate how long it took to narrow your search terms enough that you could find the information you needed

Conclusion paragraph

• Identify any common themes you discovered after researching effective public health initiatives for your topic.
• State what you learned about the research process, including various search terms.
• Explain which search tools, engines, and/or databases you preferred most and least.  Explain why.