Demystifying Health Services Letter to the Editor

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For this assignment, use your module resources (required) and any other credible outside sources desired to help you write a letter to the editor for a local paper. Think of this like a blog entry or an Op Ed (Opposite the Editorial page). Your goal is to demystify a health or public health service that is offered in a community in which you live, work, or are otherwise familiar with.

Examples of services you could focus on might include respite services for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease, school-based health check-ups, a cancer treatment offered in your community clinic, a smoking cessation intervention, nutrition counseling, a falls prevention program, a C-PAP machine or other durable medical device for the home, etc.

In your content, include the following:

  1. Identify who you are writing to (audience);
  2. Describe the health or public health service;
  3. Promote this service as a way to address the local community’s health.

Gear your writing towards your target audience, which is a group in your local community. (Be sure to clearly identify the target group in your letter.) For example, this may be an audience that is working class, health professional, families, elderly, local political leaders, and/or a mix of these different audiences. Write your letter using consumer-friendly language. You are demystifying and promoting the health service, not arguing a specific position. Be clear, concise and informative.

Your letter to the editor should be 2-3 double spaced pages long. It should be persuasive and evidence-based. Be clear and concise. Follow the guidelines for writing a letter to the editor. Please include an APA formatted reference page after your letter.

The following resources will assist you in learning how to write an Op Ed or Letter to the Editor:

Please use the following resources to ensure success in writing your letter:

Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.

Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Upload Submission.” Enter the submission title and then click on “Select a file to upload.” Browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to Submission File. Click on “Continue.” Confirm submission is correct and then click on “Accept Submission & Save.”

Turnitin

This course has Turnitin fully integrated into the course dropbox. This means that you should only submit your assignments to the dropbox below. Please do not submit your assignment directly to Turnitin.com.

Once submitted, your assignment will be evaluated by Turnitin® automatically. You will be able to view an Originality Report within minutes of your first submission that will show how much of your work has been identified as similar to other sources such as websites, textbooks, or other student papers. Use your Originality Report as a learning tool to identify areas of your assignment that you may not have cited appropriately. You may resubmit your assignment through this dropbox as many times as you need to check to see if you have made improvements, until the due date of the assignment. However, once you have made your first submission, you will need to wait 24 hours after each subsequent submission to receive a new Originality Report. Plan accordingly as you draft your assignment. Once the due date has passed, your assignment submission will be considered final.

Evaluation

This assignment will be graded using the HSC/NUR 431 Op Ed Rubric located on the Course Rubrics page within the Start Here section of the course. Please review the rubric prior to beginning your work so that you ensure your submission meets the criteria in place for this assignment. This assignment is worth 10% of your final course grade.

Module outcomes that are addressed in this discussion include:

  • CO1: Analyze the United States health care delivery system.