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Higher Education is enduring dramatic changes in who its students are and what it prepares them for as the US economy transitions from manufacturing-based to service-based (Christopher, 2019). Beginning the late 20th century, the least qualifications of entry-level jobs have forged ahead from a high school diploma to an associate or bachelor’s degree. Consequently, the focus nowadays is the attainment of college degrees. Despite the significant cost of education to grasp the degree, its benefits are far more important.
In this particular speech, I will persuade my audience who are the working-class people employed using their college diplomas to upgrade to college degrees by exploring the benefits of college degrees. The benefits of obtaining a college degree that will be discussed in the subsequent paragraphs include but are not limited to access to job opportunities, financial gains, and healthier lifestyles.
Individuals with college diplomas should acquire college degrees because having a college degree means more employment opportunities at their disposal. A vast majority of college graduates are equipped with the skills and necessary expertise to fulfill job requirements and stabilize their jobs. Horowitz (2018) acknowledges that individuals with college degrees are highly experienced and face less competition from their counterparts to enter highly skilled occupations.
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that 2.2% of workers with bachelor’s degrees are facing unemployment compared to 4.1% of workers with only high school diplomas (Horowitz, 2018). Graduates with college degrees also blend both technical and general skills consequently increasing their employability chances. Therefore, high school diploma holders should upgrade to college degrees to have an upper hand in job hunting.
High school diploma holders should upgrade to college degrees to boost their income. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that workers with a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $468 per week more than their colleagues with high school diplomas (Horowitz, 2018). The ability to earn more money is the driving force behind college attendance. However, earnings also depend on the specific field of the degree holder. For instance, graduates in the medical and engineering field are likely to earn more compared to graduates in the field of arts and education (Horowitz, 2018). This added financial gain and savvy enables college degree graduates to invest, save, become homeowners, and even purchase insurance covers.
Finally, individuals with diplomas should upgrade to college degrees to live a healthier lifestyle. This healthy lifestyle is a result of increased income that enables them to purchase quality health services (Lawrence, 2017). Furthermore, college degree students acquire more critical lessons about health that are incorporated in their curriculum that help them reduce unhealthy behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and poor diet.
According to Lawrence (2017), tobacco smoking rates in adults decrease from 20% of high school graduates without any college education to 5% of those with a college degree to 3% of workers with graduate degrees. Additionally, having a college degree increases levels of satisfaction and happiness and reduces stress and anxiety. Diploma holders therefore should obtain college degrees to live a healthier lifestyle with resultant improved life span.
In conclusion, there is a glut of benefits that comes along with a college degree in addition to the ones that have been discussed. The growing need for skills and experience in the job market has given impetus to college degrees. It is my humble request that all the workers employed under high school diplomas strive to upgrade to college degrees to embrace the changing dynamic economy and enjoy these benefits.
The topic I have chosen for the persuasive speech is ‘college degrees and why it is beneficial in the contemporary world.’ Through this topic, I seek to educate or sensitize people on the benefits of upgrading a college diploma into a college degree. The biggest advantage of acquiring a college degree is the opportunities that come with it (Norton & Martini, 2017). A college degree can open many doors with better paying opportunities compared to a college diploma. A college degree leads to higher financial gains.
My target audience is working-class people who were employed using their college diplomas. Many of these people are looking for opportunities to better their lives through better jobs. A college degree is the surest way for this group of people to upgrade their lives (Lopez, 2017). I also target this group because they have already obtained the necessary experience which means when they upgrade their college education into a degree, some of them may automatically qualify for higher job positions based on their prior learning. Figures by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that people with a bachelor’s degree earn almost $2 million annually, while associate degree holders earn $ 1.5 million annually. Diploma holders and high school graduates earn $1.2 million annually during their careers (Abramitzky et al., 2018). As seen from the figures above, acquiring a college degree rewards better compared to non-degree status.
In this speech, I will use numerous pathos and logos to create an appealing speech. In a persuasive speech, logos are particularly important as they convey a message using facts that the audience can easily understand. I will employ the use of facts, data, charts, and graphs. These instruments will allow me to create a logical appeal to my audience. Besides, the logos will make the speech informative and educative. Concerning pathos, I will use words or phrases that appeal to the emotions of my audience. The work of pathos is to invoke emotions in the audience to direct them towards making reasonable choices based on the speech.
There are numerous ways to avoid defective persuasion. One critical way I will use to get rid of defective persuasion is by leveraging as much evidence as possible. A persuasive speech without any evidence to back up what one is saying is defective. Similarly, I will use only verified evidence and not distorted evidence. This way, the audience can verify my claims, and the facts add to the credibility of my speech. Other ways I will use to avoid defective persuasion is by avoiding the use of isolated examples and examples that are non-representative.
To boost the validity and the believability of my speech, I will use research materials as evidence to support my claims. I have chosen these three research materials for my speech as follows. Perceived Benefits of an Undergraduate Degree (2017) by Norton and Martini. The second article I will use to back up my evidence is Measuring College Value (2018) by CC. Lopez. The last research article research article I will use is The Effect of Changes in the Skill Premium on College Degree Attainment and the Choice of Major by Abramitzky, Lavy, and Segev and published in 2019.
Crafting a compelling personal essay is crucial to college applications, but not all topics are effective. Certain clichéd, inappropriate, or limiting themes could undermine your admissions essay. This article provides an in-depth look at topics to avoid when selecting a memorable focus that showcases your unique personality, values, and suitability for a university.
Admissions officers must review thousands of essays every application cycle, so finding an original approach makes you stand out. Recycled themes come across as uninspired and lacking self-awareness. Worse still, inappropriate or insensitive subject matter could raise ethical red flags that jeopardize your college admission chances.
Thoughtfully avoiding problematic topics opens creative space to highlight your individuality. Admissions committees aim to understand the whole person behind test scores and transcripts through your writing. A focused, thoughtful, and mature topic choice sends the right message about your character.
Here are 13 common subjects to steer clear of when brainstorming ideas for more effective college application essays:
Avoid writing any topics involving illegal activities, substance abuse, inappropriate sexual content, or dangerous behavior. Colleges seek students who will contribute positively to campus life. Shock value has no place in application essays. Tread carefully with humor as well – admissions officers may not appreciate satire or irony. Keep essays focused on showcasing your character.
Don’t just repeat what’s already on your transcript and activity list. Admissions officers want to learn about the personal motivations, inspirations, and obstacles that shaped your high school journey. Share behind-the-scenes insights that transcripts alone can’t capture. Use vivid examples to illustrate your passions.
While meaningful relationships help shape who you are, avoid fixating solely on romantic interests. This can seem short-sighted or melodramatic. If you reference relationships, connect them to larger lessons about yourself. Focus on growth and self-discovery rather than intimate details.
Essays fixated on admirable public figures or personal heroes often rely on clichés versus substantive personal examples. Unless you have an exceptionally unique connection to your hero, admissions officers learn little about you from this topic. Turn the focus inward on your own development.
While athletics and other extracurricular activities may be important to you, resist the temptation to rehash the entire game or season play-by-plays. Admissions officers have likely read many of these. Focus instead on less obvious lessons like perseverance, teamwork, or confidence sports provide you.
Be very wary of excessively dwelling on trauma or family deaths. It can come across as emotionally manipulative if mishandled. Make sure any challenging life events spotlighted tie back to your resilience, growth, or cherished memories of lost loved ones.
Certain deeply personal struggles deserve sensitivity as essay topics. Avoid providing intimate health or family details that don’t directly relate to positive traits, lessons learned, or how you overcame challenges. Not everyone needs to know your most private matters.
Avoid polarizing political, religious, social, or moral debates. What you see as a well-reasoned stance may intensely alienate more conservative admissions officers. It’s usually safer and more effective to find less divisive topics.
Resist fixating on past youthful misdeeds or mistakes for the sake of shock value. This risks making you appear less mature. We all make poor choices sometimes. Spotlight your ability to reflect, grow, and make amends. Minor past errors need not define you.
While service trips and study abroad adventures are great experiences, many essay approaches on these topics have become overused or generic. Find your unique story within the broader journey. Share specific formative experiences and insights about how these shaped you.
Admissions officers want insights into the present you as a graduating senior. Unless a childhood experience was extraordinarily formative, focus on recent anecdotes and development moments from your high school years.
Be mindful of appearing oblivious about the advantages you’ve had over peers. If highlighting opportunities, balance with humility and appreciation. Demonstrate self-awareness regarding your blessings.
Never directly criticize or insult the reputation of the very school you’re applying to! This suggests attending is a backup rather than an aspiration. If you have concerns, either don’t apply or be prepared to focus solely on perceived strengths.
Avoiding clichéd themes, inappropriate content, or topics with limited relevance to the present-day is crucial for an essay that stands out. Admissions officers gain little insight into your core values, outlook, maturity, or intellect from mediocre essays that lack self-awareness.
Instead, challenge yourself to reflect candidly and meaningfully on a personal experience that truly reveals something distinctive about you. For example, well-crafted essays could highlight your intellectual curiosity, work ethic in overcoming obstacles, leadership skills, empathy, sense of humor, or resilience.
If feeling stuck, try free-writing exercises to identify your defining moments, relationships, and activities demonstrating personal growth, integrity, creativity, or passion. Vividly recounting specific anecdotes will always transcend vague platitudes.
With an authentic, distinctive topic and graceful yet honest writing style, your essay can capture an admissions committee’s attention and advance your candidacy without relying on risky or controversial subject matter. Trust your ability to tell your story!
Allentown stands on an extensive tract of land that was originally hunting grounds for Native Americans. A council of tribal leaders consented to vend the land to the sons of William Penn in exchange for an array of goods consisting of items such as articles of clothing, tobacco pipes and looking glasses (Haurer, 1902). In 1811, the city was recognized as a municipality and named Northampton. The name then transformed to Allentown on April 16,1938, after its founder, William Allen. Allentown is also renowned as the site for the hiding of the Liberty Bell during the American Revolutionary war.
Allentown community is predominantly urban. As per the 2019 Census results, the Allentown population was 100 % urban, 0% suburban and 0% rural (Rodden & Weighill, 2020).
Allentown is situated in Pennsylvania County, on the west banks of Lehigh River and the mouths of Jordan and the Little Lehigh creeks. Neighboring counties are Carbon County, Bucks County, Montgomery County, Berks, Schuylkill and Northampton (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Lehigh Valley is bounded by Appalachian mountain range, Blue Mountains and South Mountain. Allentown experiences a humid continental climate, whose warmest month is July, with an average of 8 days of rain on the same month. The city experiences warm, humid and wet summers and very cold winters. Throughout the year, the weather is partly cloudy.
Allentown city spans 18 square miles, 17.8 miles being land while 0.2 miles is water. The boundaries are the Jordan Creek and the tributary, Little Lehigh Creek.
The city has efficient sanitation with a reliable water supply, sewage, garbage and trash services. Lehigh County Authority provides clean water and sewerage services to residents and businesses within Allentown (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). The organization is public and non-profit. Garbage and trash services are handled by a variety of companies, including Advanced Disposal, waste Collection Services, Republic Services and Mid Atlantic Waste Systems.
The rate of home ownership is at 40.8%, while that of renting is 59.2%, with 38.4% of the married renting houses while 61.6% own houses. 35 % of single males own houses while 65% of single males live in rentals. 23 % of single females own houses while 77 % rent (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). 34.4 % of non-family persons cohabiting together own houses whereas 65.6% rent houses.
Employment opportunities are vast, spanning from health services, teaching, hospitality and hotelier, Opera housing, agriculture, court houses and manufacturing industries (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Majority of the community members work at wire mills, foundries, furnaces, silk mills, boiler works, fire brick, building bricks, flour mills, planning mills, furniture factories and oil refineries.
Allentown has a population of 121 252 by 2020 Census. This figure represents a growth rate of 2 % from the last Census that recorded 118 032 in 2010. The city attained its highest population in 2018, recording 121 537. The city extends over an area of 18 miles, and the population density is 6 910 people per square mile. Geographical mobility in Allentown is as follows: about 13 % of the population has migrated within the last one year (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Of the 13 %, 7 % are from the same county, 3 % from a different county, 2 % from a different state and 1 % from abroad. The rate of geographical mobility is about 10 % higher in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area at 11.7%. It is also relatively higher than in Pennsylvania that stands at 12.5%. Types of family/household are as follows all households total to 42 245, married households are 13 924, while non family households are 15 191. Female households are 9 454 whereas male households are 3 676.
The population of Allentown is 51.12 % female and 48.88 % male, with the values 61 814 and 59 101 respectively. By age, about 4 600 females and 4 600 males are below 1 year old, 4 400 males and 4 300 females are between 1 year and 5 years while 4 900 males and 3 900 females are aged between 5 years and 10 years (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). 4900 males and 5200 females are aged between 10 years and 15 years, 4900 males and 5300 females between 15 years and 20 years and 4800 males and 5300 females are aged between 20 years and 25 years. 5000 males and 4400 females are between 25 and 30 years old, 3800 males and 3 800 females are between 30 and 35 years, 3500 males and 3300 females are between 35 and 40 years, 3000 males and 3700 females are between 40 and 45 years while 3300 males and 3 600 females are between 45 and 50 years. 3500 males and 3300 females are between 50 and 55 years old, 2600 males and 2700 females are between 55 and 60 years, 2100 males and 2300 females are aged between 60 years and 65 years while 1 400 males and 2000 females are between 65 and 70 years. 912 males and 1100 females are between 70 years and 75 years while 667 males and 1400 females are between 75 years and 80 years.
Allentown community is a racially diverse population comprising of seven racial categories. 62.28 %, 14.74 %,14.67 %. 4.61%, 2.87%, 0.72% and 0.11% of the population are White, African American, some other race, two or more races, Asian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, respectively (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Thus Whites are 75302, African Americans 17825, some other race 17737, two or more races 5580, Asians 3465, Alaska Natives 871 and Pacific Islanders 135.
The general fertility rate between ages 15 and 44 years is 60.7 per 1000 females. The birth rate between ages 15 and 19 years is 19.8, between ages 20 and 24 years is 70.9, between 25 and 29 years is 104, between 30 and 34 years is 105.2, between 35 and 39 years is 49.3 while between 40 and 44 years is 10.1 per 1000 females (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). The crude death rate is 716.7 per 100 000. 149.6 deaths per 100 000 are due to heart disease, 151 deaths per 100 000 are due to cancer, 54.3 per 100 000 due to accidents, 31.2 per 100 000 due to cerebrovascular diseases, 28.9 per 100 000 due to chronic lower respiratory diseases and 26.2 per 100 000 due to Alzheimer’s disease. 19.3 deaths per 100 000 are due to diabetes mellitus, 12.6 per 100 000 due to nephritis, nephritic syndrome and nephrosis, 10.8 per 100 000 due to influenza and pneumonia and 12.2 per 100 000 due to septicemia. 463 deaths per 100 000 are aged between 10 and 19 years, 504 between 20 and 24 years, 636 between 25 to 34 years, 718 between 35 to 44 years, 812 between 45 to 54 years, 869 between 55 to 64 years 901 between 65 to 74 years 940 between 75 to 84 years and 882 above 85 years. The maternal mortality rate was 14.0 per 100 000 live births. The infant mortality rate is 6.0 per 1 000 live births, representing a decline from 6.5 per 1000 live births in 2015.
23.0 per 100 000 people have campylobacter infection, 2.5 per 100 000 have chicken pox, 472.4 per 100 000 have Chlamydia while 5.3 per 100 000 have giardiasis. 91.4 per 100 000 have gonorrhea, 9.1 per 100 000 have hepatitis B, 68 per 100 000 have lyme disease whereas 30.2 out of 100 000 have pertussis (Mahan, 2009). 3.2 per 100 000 have primary or secondary syphilis, 16.4 per 100 000 have salmonellosis, 3.0 per 100 000 have shigellosis whereas 1.1 per 100 000 have tuberculosis.
Allentown was founded in1762 by James Allen, the first settlement having been done in 1751 along the west banks of Lehigh River. Notable historic events include the Civil War of 1861 to 1865, commemorated by a beautiful monument of Soldiers and Sailors on the Monument Square, previously known as the Centre Square (Haurer, 1902). Between 1840 and 1850, residents of Allentown witnessed additional notable historic occurrences, especially the failure of the Northampton Bank in 1843 and the great fire of 1848. Owing to the profound socioeconomic changes brought by the catastrophic events, the period is referred to as the disastrous decade, whose implications for the city remain unforgotten. The disasters fuelled the residents to engage with more vigor into nation-building activities, enabling Allentown to spring back magically into economic growth.
The future employment growth rate is predicted at 23.8 % for the next 10 years, a figure that is lower than the United States average of 33.5 %. Allentown is expected to grow economically, judging by engagements with the County of Pennsylvania (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Capital is being diverted from the general treasury of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a tax-distribution arrangement referred to as the Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). The NIZ divers all local taxes and non-property state taxes within a specified 130-acre area to fund development within the area. The zone under development lies within the city center and along the west bank of Lehigh River. The NIZ enables the taxes to be recycled locally within Allentown, instead of presenting them at Harrisburg. The NIZ allows developers to source their capital for building Allentown’s downtown from their neighborhoods, culminating in developers leasing the spaces at lower rates than normally feasible, attracting businesses and tenants that would be discouraged by the normal high rates. Thus NIZ revitalized economic development in Allentown, benefiting the entire state of Pennsylvania.
Formal communication network in the community comprise of radio stations, television channels, newspapers and journals. Informal communication consists of roadside billboards, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter; and periodical magazines. Allentown boasts of over 35 popular FM radio stations and 26 renowned television stations. The premier newspaper in English was Lehigh Central in 1817 (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). Lehigh Bulletin was established in 1837 and transformed to Democrat. Other newspapers include Daily News, Daily Herald, The Bugle, The Evening Telegram and The Allentonian.
Allentown’s homicide rate averages at about 6 deaths per 100 000 residents whereas the suicide rate is 17 per 100 000 within a ten-year period (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). These figures suggest that an Allentonian is three times more likely to kill himself/herself than being killed by another person. The high suicide rates call for keen attention and action from the federal and state government. Whereas twice as much Allentonians die from suicide than from HIV/AIDS, the latter has more publicity than the former.
Residents of Allentown enjoy robust protective services, beginning with the Adult Protective Services Law, enacted in 2010 that protects adults aged between 18 years and 59 years with physical or mental disabilities. The APS Law is Act 70 of 2010 that encompasses a program which detects, prevents, reduces and eliminates abuse, exploitation, neglect or abandonment among the adults in need (Hamidi & Joseph, 2019). The program trains citizens to identify common signs of abuse that include weight loss, bruises or broken bones, memory loss, social isolation, personality changes, changes in banking habits and giving away assets inclusive of property or money. Also, the hotline is working 24 hours and report may be made by the person or on behalf of the adult. The Lehigh County Children and Youth Services protects children from abuse and neglect (Hamidi & Joseph, 2019). Nonetheless, residents report of inefficiency in the services. For instance, a mother complained that they neglected the needs of abused children. Another resident remarked that the agency takes for truth all information derived from teenagers, without corroborating with information from parents, exposing the agencies to manipulation by the teenagers.
The major source of stress among Allentown residents is poverty. Poverty contributes to lack of an affordable and stable housing and challenges in finding healthy choices of food (Hamidi & Joseph, 2019). Residents also reported the lack of opportunity as another leading source of stress, culminating from inadequate chances of employment or insufficient training. Other community members feel that the lack of support is a stressing factor, since it leads to absence of strong social connections that are key to successful human societies. Challenges of raising a family also contribute to stress, for instance, day care costs are always increasing whereas reported cases of violence is schools are rising.
The average income per family is $56 842 and the overall poverty rate is 25.70%, with the male poverty rate at 23.61% and the female poverty rate at 27.71% (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). 94.81% of Islanders live below the poverty level while 10.62% of Asians live below the poverty level. 32.03% of men are unemployed while 48.88% of females are unemployed. Employment opportunities are vast, spanning from health services, teaching, hospitality and hotelier, Opera housing, agriculture, court houses and manufacturing industries. Majority of the community members work at wire mills, foundries, furnaces, silk mills, boiler works, fire brick, building bricks, flour mills, planning mills, furniture factories and oil refineries (Haurer, 1902). About 8.5% of the city’s community goes into retirement per decade. The number of retired persons is expected to increase, owing immigrants intending to make Lehigh Valley their retirement home. Experts project about 1 000 000 people will make Lehigh Valley their retirement home by 2040.
52.85% of Allentown residents are sole English speakers, whereas 47.15% speak other languages. The largest non-English language spoken is Spanish, utilized by 40.10% of Allentonians (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Whites have the highest rate of high school graduation at 87.99% while Asians have the highest rate of bachelors degree at 37.14%. 8.63% of the population have attained less than the 9th grade, 12.35% have attained between 9th grade and 12th grade, 38.01% are high school graduates while 18.33% have attended some college. 7.42% have an Associates degree, 9.60% have a Bachelor’s degree while 5.66% have a Graduate degree.
48.2% of community members are religiously unaffiliated while 51.2% are religiously affiliated. Christians are 48.7%, comprising of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, Black Protestants, Latter-Day Saints and Unitarian Universalist (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Jews comprise of 0.7%, with the categories of Conservative Jews, Reform Jews or Orthodox Jews. Muslims make 1.7% of the population while other religions make 1.7%.
Allentown has a married percentage of 47%, which is ranked the largest marriage rate in Pennsylvania (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). The divorce rate is at 5%.
Allentown is governed by the City Council, chaired by the Mayor. Government meetings happen at the City Council chambers on the 1st Floor of City Hall, 425 Hamilton Street, Allentown. The City Council has a President, Vice President, and 5 Council persons. The Vice President is appointed while the President is elected (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). The current President is Councilman Julio A. Guridy. The Departments and Bureaus are Building Standards and Safety, Community and Economic Development, EMS Paramedics, Finance, Fire, Health, Human Resources, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Zoning, Police, Public Works, Purchasing, Recycling and Solid Waste and Streets. The working hours are 8.00 am to 4.30 pm during weekdays. The offices are accessible to Allentonians during the working hours.
Allentown has over 21 best performing public schools, such as Veritas Academy, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School, Jefferson Elementary School, Washington Elementary School and Union Terrace Elementary School. Private schools in the city include Moravian Academy, Allentown Central Catholic High School, Bethlehem Catholic High School, River Valley Waldorf School, Notre Dame High School and Faith Christian School (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). The City also has more than 8 libraries accessible to the public, including Allentown Public Library, Cressman Library, Lehigh County Law Library, Trexler Memorial Library at Muhlenberg College, Little Free Library of Glenwood St, Emmaus Public Library, Scott Andrew Trexler II Library, Parkland Community Library, and Little Free Library of Calvary.
Services for special groups include school based teen parent/pregnant teen programs that meet the unique needs and challenges of pregnant teens or parenting students. For adults with special needs, institutions that cater for their challenges and requirements include BrightStar Care Lehigh Valley, NAACP of Allentown, School of Rock, Sylvan Learning of Allentown, Catholic Charities, Berman, Access Services and My Smart Hands (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). For children or adults who are developmentally impaired, institutions offering special services are Community Services for Children, Easterseals Eastern Pennsylvania, Via of the Lehigh Valley-Cedar Crest, Lehigh Count Children & Youth, Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living, the Cuddle Zone Learning Center, Lehigh County Aging, Head Start, The Arc of Lehigh & Northampton Counties, Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems, Allentown YMCA and Executive Education Academy Charter School. Special services and programs for children and adults who are blind or deaf include Carbon Lehigh Intermediate, Arts Academy Charter Middle School, Allentown School District, Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and Salisbury Township School District.
The transport systems in Allentown include roads, railroads, air and water. Road transport comprises of limousine service (luxury), medical transport service, bus charters, and international bus lines (Rodden & Weighill, 2020). Railroads connect the city to New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Buffalo and the Coal region while electric roads connect Allentown to Bethlehem, Bangor, Catasauqua, Coplay, Easton, Egypt, Emmaus, Hellertown, Nazareth, Slatington and Siegfried.
48.1% of Allentonians report of a healthy diet according to the daily nutritional requirement by FDA. 20.8 % of consumed food products in a month are milk, while only 3.5% of Allentonians eat meals prepared away from home (Hamidi, 1902). 1.9 % of consumed foods is from fast foods or pizza place in a week, 1.9% is ready to eat foods in a month, while 3.5% is frozen meal in a month.
Allentown has an extensive system of health services, comprising of over 114 clinics offering general and specialized care. Examples of healthcare providers are LVHN Comprehensive Health Services, Omni Health Services, Extended Family Care of Allentown, Allentown Health Bureau and Lehigh Valley Home Care-Allentown. The healthcare providers are accessible to patients for twenty-four hours, seven days a week, with fully functional emergency dial numbers. The emergency dials are toll-free.
An assessment of the health services reveals a better population health, characterized by declining incidence rates and prevalence rates of various diseases within the last decade. Also, Allentown has less health imbalance and inequity with better health care quality. The overall better population health has culminated in less expenditure in healthcare. Allentown health delivery system lacks services for the mentally ill. Clients complain that mentally ill patients would be held at the emergency department for up to 72 hours, without being shaved, bathed, clothed or fed regularly (Wlazelek & Cleaveland, 2017). When confronted about the deplorable situation, Lehigh Valley stated that the challenges result from the sudden reduction in number of psychiatric beds in various hospitals and paucity of community psychiatric services.
The predominant overuse of health services in Allentown is prescribing antibiotics for ear infections in children, despite the evidence that the infections resolve within three days in absence of antibiotics. Also, MRI are overused, regardless of their minimal role in changing the treatment prescribed or the patient’s outcome (Kieber-Emmons, Topmiller & Carrozza, 2020). Overuse of MRI is costly to the patient and the hospital. Underuse of health services in Allentown is also evident in that only one in 20 women is getting an annual breast cancer screening mammogram, whereas regular mammograms are linked to a lower risk of death from breast cancer. While vaccination for pneumonia would prevent over 10 000 deaths, only 56 out of 100 adults at 65 years and above receive vaccination for pneumonia within a year.
Healthcare in Allentown is financed by the City’s budget. Additional institutions offering financial assistance to patients include Lehigh Valley Health Network and Crestmark Healthcare Financing.
Children pick harmful disease-causing germs from what they touch. Young children are at a greater risk of contracting infectious diseases such as meningitis, common cold, flu, and chickenpox through poor hand hygiene. Other dangerous diseases that children can acquire from poor hand hygiene include respiratory infections, diarrhea, and salmonella, which they can also transmit to other people. Knowledge and proper education on hand hygiene can help children to avoid contracting and spreading harmful germs that are a threat to their lives. Effective handwashing is a major primary prevention approach in preventing deadly diseases caused and spread by poor hand hygiene. This community teaching plan aims at educating young children to learn and adopt effective hand hygiene characterized by a proper frequency and quality of handwashing behavior.
This teaching plan aims at teaching school-age children between 5-6 years about proper handwashing. The activity took place at the kindergarten with a class size of 30 students. Given the age bracket of the children, several effective teaching techniques were used to help in improving their concentration as well as to pass the message effectively. I used posters with elaborate pictures to help the children easily memorize what they are taught. Role-plays were also used to help the children experiment with, explore, and even investigate what they are taught. I also used popular songs such as ‘row the boat’ and ‘happy birthdays’ to break the learning monotony as well as create a happy learning environment enjoyed by the children.
The children watched a video on handwashing then led to practice by themselves supervised and guided by an adult. I provided the children with flashcards that have detailed visual lessons that teach children the art of effective handwashing. The major objective of the lesson is to help the children to learn proper hand hygiene through handwashing. Some of the learning outcomes include; knowing when to wash hands, the importance of washing hands, and proper hand hygiene. Children must develop a handwashing etiquette using elaborate yet simple steps. These steps keep them from developing ailments and diseases caused by germs.
Hand hygiene-HH is rapidly becoming a critical health concern for the public. The efficiency of hand hygiene is obtained by a combination of hand drying and washing efficiency. However, there is very scanty information to the public, especially young children about efficient hand hygiene behavior. Young children are the most susceptible to infections such as the flu, cold, gastrointestinal ailments, and other respiratory viruses (Staniford, L. J., & Schmidtke, K. A. (2020). These problems are caused by poor handwashing behavior or the lack of it. Besides, poor hand hygiene in children is the number one cause of stomach problems and diarrhea. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) indicates that 1 out 5 children suffer from respiratory problems such as pneumonia, whereas 1 out 3 children get infected with diarrhea due to poor hand hygiene. This statement means that many children risk contracting infectious diseases if proper hand hygiene is not observed.
Effective handwashing is one of the best ways of curbing disease transmission in young children. Using soap is the best approach in removing disease pathogens from the hands while preventing infectious diseases from spreading among the children. In this lesson, I will teach the children how to wash their hands effectively and the importance of handwashing. Most of the children from the study group are already aware that they need to wash their hands regularly. However, there is a gap in terms of information/education about how to properly wash hands. An empirical study conducted in 2019 by Suen et al., indicated that handwashing is 85% effective in removing microorganisms from the hand (p. 9). This factor means that simple handwashing with soap protects children from harmful bacteria and viruses that may cause serious health infections.
Many illnesses in adults and children begin with contaminated/dirty hands that have disease-causing viruses and bacteria. The hands of young children can easily get contaminated after using a toilet. For example, just one gram of human feces contain up to 10 million viruses and 1 million bacteria. Feces of young children are more pathogenic compared to adult feces. This fact alone shows how dangerous poor hand hygiene can get for children when a child touches excreta. Two major common in children because by poor hand hygiene are diarrhea and pneumonia. Together, these two health problems lead to 20% deaths in children under the age of 5 years (Suen et al., 2019). Diarrheal disease is one of the top killer disease in children caused by gems and parasites. In the case of pneumonia, 13% of child deaths are caused by these disease due to failure to observe proper hand hygiene (Suen et al., 2019). It is critical to note that many of these can be simply prevented by a simple handwashing using soap.
There are numerous methods and ways that can be used to evaluate a teaching experience. One of the most effective methods of evaluating a teaching experience is self-reelection. In the scenario, the teacher reflects on their performance by asking himself/herself critical questions such as how the learning session went, the level of engagement in the learners if the children did any actual learning. Secondly, I will use easy questions to assess whether the students learned anything from the lesson. For example, some of the critical questions that will help me to analyze whether the children learned something includes; asking them the meaning of germs, how germs spread, a demonstration of how to wash hands, and why it is important to wash hands regularly. Using these questions, I can find out if the lessons have been effective.
The Traffic-light feedback tool is another critical tool in the Evaluation of teaching experience. For example, I asked children to tell me what they found difficult or what they did not understand. I use a red sticky note to represent the difficult parts. Similarly, I ask the learners to write down or tell me which areas/subtopics they understood well or enjoyed learning. I write these down on a green sticky note. After analyzing the two notes-red and blue, I design a plan to work on the sections that need improvement to make them more deliverable to the children.
One-minute papers is another critical method used in the evaluation of teaching experience. These are pieces of small papers that a teacher asks his/her students to write down what they have understood well and what they have not understood or what is giving them problems. This is a critical evaluation approach for teaching experience because a teacher knows exactly how he/she performed and what areas they need to concentrate on or make improvements.
In the beginning, the children were not sure what to expect. Many of them explained to me that they did not think the activity would amount to much since they already practice handwashing anyway. However, through a mixture of videos, songs, graphic pictures on handwashing, and role-plays, the children seemed to enjoy the lessons immensely. Many of them were even surprised that much as they already knew about washing hands, they were doing it wrong. In particular, the students were very eager to learn about germs and how they spread. This inquisitiveness is proof that the children were actively listening and asking questions to help them better understand the phenomena of effective handwashing.
The children responded positively as indicated by their level of engagement. During the lesson, the children listened attentively to the videos and the oral presentations. The videos were made in form of short animation films which helped to boost the children’s concentration. Other materials that made the learners respond positively to the lesson include; pictograms, role plays, group activities, and songs. I also made sure that complex problems were elucidated so that the children did not encounter any difficulty when learning. The elucidation of complex problems increased the children’s level of enthusiasm for learning.
Strengths
The choice of teaching materials used enhances the learning outcome. The use of animated videos, picture presentations, and role plays enhanced the children’s attention and participation in the learning. I am pleased by the choice of tools used in the learning process because they immensely contributed to the success of the program. Being young children with low attention and memory span, it was critical to find an effective way of teaching. Instead of lecturing, the tools mentioned above made the lessons more interesting and memorable for children.
Weakness
The major problem with the handwashing program is that it is difficult to implement. It is one thing to teach the children about proper hand hygiene, and is another thing altogether to get the children to observe proper hand hygiene at all times. As playful as they are, children will touch everything during play which exposes them to harmful bacteria and virus infections. This program can only be a success if parents joined hands to ensure that hand hygiene in children is observed. Secondly, some parents have no knowledge of proper handwashing procedures which means that they are cannot effectively implement proper hygiene habits in their children when they have no clue about it.
Hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways of curbing the spread of germs in children. Many children acquire health complications from what they touch. Without proper hand hygiene behavior, children not only get sick but can also pass the disease-causing germs to other children. The objective of this community teaching plan is to educate 5-6 year old the proper etiquette of hand hygiene through regular and proper handwashing. The CDC asserts that simple handwashing with soap can save millions of children across the globe from contracting deadly diseases and ailments caused by germs. The act of simple hand washing using soap and water helps millions of children from dying. Furthermore, washing hands is a major primary prevention tool in the spread of diseases.
Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
4.2 Communicate therapeutically with patients.
The RN to BSN program at Grand Canyon University meets the requirements for clinical competencies as defined by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), using nontraditional experiences for practicing nurses. Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
These experiences come in the form of direct and indirect care experiences in which licensed nursing students engage in learning within the context of their hospital organization, specific care discipline, and local communities. Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
Note: The teaching plan proposal developed in this assignment will be used to develop your Community Teaching Plan: Community Presentation due in Topic 5. You are strongly encouraged to begin working on your presentation once you have received and submitted this proposal.
Select one of the following as the focus for the teaching plan:
Use the “Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal” resource to complete this assignment. This will help you organize your plan and create an outline for the written assignment.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance. Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
NRS-427VN-RS3-CommunityTeachingWorkPlanProposal.docx
Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
Directions: Develop an educational series proposal for your community using one of the following four topics:
1. Bioterrorism/Disaster
2. Environmental Issues
3. Primary Prevention/Health Promotion
4. Secondary Prevention/Screenings for a Vulnerable Population
Planning Before Teaching:
Name and Credentials of Teacher:Estimated Time Teaching Will Last:Location of Teaching:
Supplies, Material, Equipment Needed:Estimated Cost:
Community and Target Aggregate:
Topic:
Identification of Focus for Community Teaching (Topic Selection):
Epidemiological Rationale for Topic (Statistics Related to Topic):
Teaching Plan Criteria
Your teaching plan will be graded based on its effectiveness and relevance to the population selected. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
Nursing Diagnosis: Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
Readiness for Learning: Identify the factors that would indicate the readiness to learn for the target aggregate. Include emotional and experiential readiness to learn.
Learning Theory to Be Utilized: Explain how the theory will be applied.
Goal: Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) objective(s) utilized as the goal for the teaching. Include the appropriate objective number and rationale for using the selected HP2020 objective (use at least one objective from one of the 24 focus areas). If an HP2020 objective does not support your teaching, explain how your teaching applies to one of the two overarching HP2020 goals.
How Does This HP2020 Objective Relate to Alma Ata’s Health for All Global Initiatives
Develop Behavioral Objectives (Including Domains), Content, and Strategies/Methods:
Behavioral Objective and DomainExample – Third-grade students will name one healthy food choice in each of the five food groups by the end of the presentation. (Cognitive Domain)
Content (be specific)Example – The Food Pyramid has five food groups which are….
Healthy foods from each group are…. Unhealthy foods containing a lot of sugar or fat are….
Strategies/Methods(label and describe)
Example – Interactive poster presentation of the Food Pyramid. After an explanation of the poster and each food category, allow students to place pictures of foods on the correct spot on the pyramid. Also, have the class analyze what a child had for lunch by putting names of foods on the poster and discussing what food group still needs to be eaten throughout day.
Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
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1.Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal2.
2.2.Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal3.
3.3.Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal4.
4.Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
Creativity: How was creativity applied in the teaching methods/strategies?
Planned Evaluation of Objectives (Outcome Evaluation): Describe what you will measure for each objective and how.
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2.
3.
4.
Planned Evaluation of Goal: Describe how and when you could evaluate the overall effectiveness of your teaching plan.
Planned Evaluation of Lesson and Teacher (Process Evaluation):
Barriers: What are potential barriers that may arise during teaching and how will those be handled?
Therapeutic Communication
4.2 Communicate therapeutically with patients.
How will you begin your presentation and capture the interest of your audience? Describe the type of activity will you use with your audience to exhibit active listening? Describe how you applied active listening in tailoring your presentation to your audience? How will you conclude your presentation? What nonverbal communication techniques will you employ?
Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal Planning and Topic
Directions: Develop an educational series proposal for your community using one of the
following four topics:
1.Bioterrorism/Disaster
2.Environmental Issues
3.Primary Prevention/Health Promotion
4.Secondary Prevention/Screenings for a Vulnerable Population Planning
Before Teaching:
Name and Credentials of Teacher:
Estimated Time Teaching Will Last:
Location of Teaching:
Supplies, Material, Equipment Needed:
Estimated Cost:
Community and Target Aggregate:
Topic:
Identification of Focus for Community Teaching (Topic Selection):
Epidemiological Rationale for Topic(Statistics Related to Topic):
Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
Planning and Topic
Directions: Develop an educational series proposal for your community using one of the
following four topics:
1. Bioterrorism/Disaster
2. Environmental Issues
3. Primary Prevention/Health Promotion
4. Secondary Prevention/Screenings for a Vulnerable Population
Planning Before Teaching:
Name and Credentials of Teacher:
Estimated Time Teaching Will Last: Location of Teaching:
Supplies, Material, Equipment Needed: Estimated Cost:
Community and Target Aggregate:
Topic:
Identification of Focus for Community Teaching (Topic Selection):
Epidemiological Rationale for Topic (Statistics Related to Topic):
Community Teaching Plan Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
With nearly two years since the COVID19 epidemic began, there has been a tremendous impact on numerous sectors such as health, education, leisure and hospitality, professional business services among others. The pandemic prompted the World Health Organization to impose rigorous measures such as movement restrictions, the use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, and, later, COVID19 vaccine. These interventions have resulted in a decrease in COVID19 morbidity and mortality. In terms of population health, COVID19 has raised psychological stress due to job loss over the era, in addition to physical debilitation (Rajkumar, 2020). This has exacerbated or created new mental health issues in the population, most notably depression. In the Virginia community, the most pressing health concern is depression, which demands actions to address it. In this paper, a teaching plan is developed to educate community members on depression during the COVID19 era, how to handle and mitigate its effects, and how to prevent it.
Lesson Description
Lesson Goals
Lesson Objectives
Lesson Materials
1.Introduction
2.Recognition
3.Risks and Prognostic Factors
4.Functional Consequences of Depressive Disorders during the COVID19 era
5.Treatment and nursing support for the affected individuals
During a poll conducted in the Virginia community, the majority of health professionals said that mental health disorders, particularly depression, are the most concerning. Depression in the COVID19 era has been investigated by a number of scientists, and the available statistics on its occurrence are the result of several epidemiological observations. Listed below are a few of the most current research on the prevalence of depression in the COVID19 era.
Huang and Zhao (2021) conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey of 7236 members of the general public in China and discovered that 20.1% of the population suffered from depression symptoms. In the study, persons with depressive symptoms were identified using the Center for Epidemiology Scale for Depression (CES-D). Wang et al. (2020) conducted an online survey among 1210 respondents in 194 Chinese cities in a different cross-sectional study, and the results show that 53.8% of them had some level of stress, and 16.5% had moderate to severe depressive symptoms. In their cross-sectional online survey study of 2766 Italian participants, Mazza et al. (2020) discovered that the prevalence of severe and moderate depression is 15% and 17%, respectively. The study also discovered that 11.5% and 7.2% of study participants suffered from severe and moderate anxiety, respectively.
Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional survey among 976 adult participants in Spain, and the results are as follows: In males, the prevalence of mild, moderate, severe, and extremely severe depression was 8.7%, 4%, and 2.9%, respectively, while females had the following prevalence: In mild, moderate, severe, and extremely severe depression, the rates were 8.6%, 7.1%, 2.3%, and 3%, respectively. In a different nation, Iran, Moghanibashi-Mansourieh (2020) performs a cross-sectional online survey on anxiety among 10754 people, and the results show that anxiety levels are higher in women than in men. The bottom line is that rates of mental health conditions have risen dramatically during the COVID19 era, which has been attributed to stressful prevailing life conditions such as job loss, death of loved ones, infection, fatigue and loneliness, and separation from family due to measures such as restricted movement in various countries. Depression was chosen because it is the most serious health concern in the Virginia community during the COVID19, and it has been linked to the majority of individuals losing their jobs during that time period, necessitating an intervention to treat it.
Self-reflection is a technique for regularly reviewing the teaching plan. Critical questions such as “How did the lesson go?” are asked at the end of the lesson. How did the community members participate, and did they appear to learn? Continuous self-evaluation enables beneficial changes in subsequent sessions (Yang et al., 2017). Another method for evaluating the teaching strategy is to solicit feedback from the community. To establish whether or not learning is taking place, it is helpful to solicit input from community members at various points throughout the educational process. For example, if the members meet twice a week for 30-minute sessions, the presenter may want to seek feedback from the members at the end of the week’s session on the week’s teachings. This can be accomplished through the use of an audience response system, in which any individual can volunteer at the end of the session to make random comments about the week’s session over a public address system, or through the use of one-minute papers, in which members write down what they have learned from that session (Yang et al., 2017). Another approach of gathering feedback from members is to employ a traffic light feedback system, in which the instructor uses red, yellow, or green sticky notes to assess learning and comprehension. For example, which teaching approaches do members wish to reduce (red), continue (yellow), or see more of? (green).
Feedback from a colleague is also important in evaluating my teaching strategy. Colleagues who accompany me during community teaching can provide comments on the instruction, identify specific problems, and suggest methods to improve the next time. A colleague can provide an honest evaluation about the teaching plan and may be a good source for my improved performance in a future similar assignment.
Finally, course evaluation questionnaires can be employed to assess the teaching plan. One can engage the level of learning that has occurred by distributing evaluation questionnaires (Yang et al., 2017). The educator prioritizes the information he/she wants to collect from the learners while creating the questionnaires, and if possible, involves them in the design of the questions. In order to get a quick answer, assessment questionnaires are designed with single questions, few questions, and questions that are brief and unambiguous.
The reaction to community teaching can be immediate or delayed. The instant reaction to the teaching was positive, as evidenced by positive responses from community members, confirming that learning had happened. When asked questions at the end of the event, the majority of the community members replied correctly. The majority could understand how depression manifests, identify risk and prognosis indicators, offer the most basic nursing care to whoever is affected, and connect the many affected individuals to relevant community services. The number of community members who become aware and wary about depression, the number of individuals linked to various community resources that support afflicted individuals, and the reduction in the occurrence rate of depression during the COVID19 period will be used to measure delayed response. During the teaching sessions, the members were eager to learn, attentive, and passionate about getting to know more outside of the confines of the lesson plan. This is a good indicator that the community’s reaction to the depression education was positive.
The fact that an issue of greatest interest to the community was picked is a significant achievement to be proud of. Following the huge psychological impact of the epidemic, the frequency was inflated during COVID19. The teaching plan was designed in the most basic way possible so that community members could readily understand it. Every component of the application was written in easy language and in English because the bulk of the inhabitants spoke English fluently. As a result, there was no language barrier during the presentation, as even the elderly appeared to have an easy time interpreting the information.
Audiovisuals were utilized, and simulations were constructed where practical, to help participants internalize the topics. To optimize patient learning, modern learning approaches go beyond didactic lectures and include the presentation of information through audiovisuals and simulation (Johnston et al., 2017). Furthermore, the fact that the program was brought to the community in close proximity to the residents is a significant step forward. Weaknesses included the amount of time required to arrange the sessions, the number of weeks required to finish the training, and the inflexibility of the teaching plan—it was supposed to happen twice a week for 5 weeks without any lesson being postponed. Such areas of weakness will be investigated and rectified should there be a need to create a future teaching plan.
The unprecedented COVID19 brought with it a slew of physical, emotional, social, and psychological issues. As seen in the Virginia community, among the social issues were job loss and financial constraints. As a result of being anxious and unable to provide for their families, people developed mental health problems, particularly depression. The teaching plan therefore concentrated on depression. It took 10 sessions of 30 minutes each over the course of 5 weeks. Despite the positive response from the community, a future program must be adaptable in order to meet the needs and preferences of the community members. Among the goals of the teaching plan were the ability to recognize depressive signs, identify patients at risk, and create basic nursing care for patients in need.
Topic 3 DQ1: Compare vulnerable populations. Describe an example of one of these groups in the United States or from another country. Explain why the population is designated as “vulnerable.” Include the number of individuals in this group and the specific challenges or issues involved. Discuss why these populations cannot advocate for themselves, the ethical issues that must be considered when working with these groups, and how nursing advocacy would be beneficial.
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, 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, having a friend proofread your essay for obvious errors is advantageous. 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. Letting your essay run over the recommended number of pages is better than compressing 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 and double-spaced with a one-inch margin on each page’s top, bottom, and sides. When submitting a hard copy, use white paper and print it out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including 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 debate, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and off-topic responses 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.
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ are graded separately and do not count toward participation.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days for three answers.
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 due during the week.
Please familiarize yourself with the 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.
I discourage the overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Master’s level and deduct points accordingly.
As Master’s level students, you must 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 or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
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 study instead of getting counted for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper more of someone else’s thoughts than yours?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud, for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
The university’s policy on late assignments is a 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.
Per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any work submitted after midnight on the previous day of the course will not be carried out for grading.
Communication is so essential. 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 questions or send messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
This assignment consists of four paragraphs in length, word document and double spacing. 12 point new roman front. If you have any questions, please let me know
HCM -320 1-2 Journal:Guidelines and Rubric Overview : In this journal, you will have the opportunity to consider the healthcare economics of two adjacent counties in the Kansas Ci ty metropolitan area. Read Case 2.1 in Chapter 2 of your textbook.
In your journal assignment, answer the following case study questions:
? What are the main inputs to health mentioned in this case? Are there important inputs to health that the case does not mention?
? What health behaviors should get priority?
? Does income play a role in improving health?
? How important is health insurance in improving health?
? Wyandotte County has relatively few primary care physicians. Should the number of primary care physicians be a priority?
? What role, if any, should the federal government play in improving health?
? How do you think your answers would differ if you were a resident of Wyandotte County? Support your responses with examples from the case or references to your textbook.
Use the journal as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the final project requirements and case study. Journal activities in this course are private between you and your instructor. Only the instructor can view and comment on your assignments. Rub ric
Guidelines for Submission: Your journal assignment should be 2 to 4 paragraphs in length. Submit assignment as a Word document with double spacing, 12 – point Times New Roman font, and one -inch margins.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value Inputs Discusses the main health inputs mentioned in this case, identifies important inputs not mentioned and supports stance with examples from the case or references to the textbook Discusses the main health inpu ts mentioned in this case, identifies important inputs not mentioned but does not support stance.
Does not discuss the main health inputs mentioned in this case 14 Health Behavior Discusses what health behaviors should get priority and supports stance with examples from the case or references to the textbook Discusses what health behaviors should get priority, but does not support stance.
Does not discuss what health behaviors should get priority 14 Income Level Describes how income plays a role in improving health and supports description with examples from the case or references to the textbook Describes how income plays a role in improving health but does not support description.
Does not describe how income plays a role in improving health 14 Health Insurance Describes the importance of health insurance in improving health and supports description with examples from the case or references to the textbook Describes the importance of health insurance in improving health, but does not support description.
Does not describe the importance of health insurance in improving health 14 Primary Care Providers Discusses the quantity of primary care physicians and determines whether or not this quantity should be a priority and supports response with examples from the case or references to the textbook Discusses the quantity of primary care physicians and determines whether or not this quantity should be a priority, but does not support response with examples from the case or references to the textbook.
Does not discuss the quantity of primary care physicians 14 Government Role Defines the role of the federal government plays in improving health and supports description with examples from the case or references to the textbook Defines the role of the federal government plays in improving health, but does not explain why or why.
Does not define the role of the federal government plays in improving health 15 Resident Perspective Discusses whether healthcare economics issues would be different from the perspective of a Wyandotte County resident, and explains why or why not.
Discusses whether healthcare economics issues would be different from the perspective of a Wyandotte County resident, and explains why or why not, but does not explain why or why not Does not discuss whether healthcare economics issues would be different from the perspective of a Wyandotte County resident 15 Total 100%
Psychotherapy is a viable treatment for a variety of mental health issues. Wheeler (2020) defines psychotherapy as a process of treating emotional difficulties and mental illnesses by way of verbal and psychological techniques. Currently, several psychotherapeutic approaches are in existence including but are not limited to existential therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Humanistic existential psychotherapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that focuses on the human condition as a whole (Wheeler, 2020).
However, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which has gained its popularity since its establishment in the 1960s is deployed as a treatment modality for a multitude of mental disorders such as anxiety, substance use disorders, and depression. This piece of writing concentrates on comparing humanistic-existential therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy along with their associated outcomes when used in the treatment of patients.
Humanistic existential therapy uses a positive approach that appreciates human capacities and aspirations while simultaneously acknowledging their limitations (Feizi et al., 2019). This form of psychotherapy is a long-term process that helps an individual get in touch with the real experiences they are feeling. It deals with the last concerns of human beings’ existence such as death along with fears of isolation, meaninglessness, guilt lack of relationships, and emptiness (Grande, 2019). The fundamental aim of this therapy is to enable a patient to reach self-actualization in the presence of existential dilemmas. Nevertheless, existential therapy has been criticized for several reasons.
To begin, as opposed to other modalities of psychotherapy, this particular therapy lacks specific and concrete techniques for its administration. Similarly, existential therapy is nondirective which at times makes it restrictive and frustrating to the patients (Grande, 2019). Cognitive-behavioral therapy on the other hand is a goal-oriented, structured, and deductive hands-on form of therapy in which the therapist and the patient work in a collaborative manner with the target of modifying patterns of behavior and thinking to effectuate beneficial transformation in the patient’s mood and way of living (Fordham et al., 2018). Cognitive-behavioral therapy finds its basis through its theorization of the bidirectional nature of cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral relationships.
CBT has widely been criticized for focusing on individuals’ capacity to change themselves. Also, this therapy receives a setback for dwelling only on specific and current problems without taking a look at the underlying etiologies of mental health conditions. The above two modalities of psychotherapy differ in several ways which are discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.
CBT as a talking therapy focuses on the recognition of maladaptive thoughts and behaviors and subsequently challenges the patient to inaugurate a distinct course of action and thinking to enhance his overall psychological and physical wellbeing (Fordham et al., 2018). Existential therapy on the other hand focuses on evaluating human consciousness of oneself including the core existence which facilitates self-actualization and self-flourishing. Arguably, CBT is a well-structured, directed and designed form of psychotherapy that is utilized in various settings such as individual, family, and group whereas existential therapy, lacks specific concrete techniques, it is nondirective and is greatly elemental in an individual setting (Feizi et al., 2019).
Additionally, CBT emphasizes patient safety and happiness by encouraging the adoption of pristine thoughts and alterations in behaviors in the presence of maladaptive thoughts and behaviors that lead to good psychological and physical wellbeing. Nonetheless, existential therapy strongly contemplates the absence of permanent safety and happiness in life thus prioritizing the formation of identity (Feizi et al., 2019). The above dissimilarities are crucial and impact the practice of PMHNP. The PMHNP must recognize the mental health issue of concern and select the appropriate therapy that will be beneficial to the patient based on the pros and cons as well as the distinctive characteristics of each of the above psychotherapeutic modalities.
From the PsychotherapyNet (2009) in the James Bugental live case consultation psychotherapy video, the patient complains of “not feeling alive” and being “constricted in his life” warrants the use of humanistic-existential therapy as the treatment of choice. The rationale behind this is that existential therapy enables self-awareness, authenticity and increases awareness about life decisions. Moreover, this kind of therapy helps an individual find purpose and meaning in life, creates a positive attitude towards life, self-actualizes and self-nourishes an individual. Therefore, the patient benefited from a deeper discovery of the larger sense of himself (Feizi et al., 2019).
Cognitive-behavioral therapy could also be used in the management of the patient in the above video. However, this modality would necessitate the identification of maladaptive behaviors and thoughts behind being “constricted in life” and “not feeling alive” and then imposing a positive change. The expected potential outcome with the use of CBT depends on a multitude of factors including patient commitment, effective communication, patient-therapist relationships, and therapist skills (Fordham et al., 2018). In the event that all the named variables are at optimum, the patient would likely develop novel ways of thinking and positive attitudes towards life.
Psychotherapy is a critical treatment modality for mental health illnesses and emotional difficulties. It is vital to select the appropriate psychotherapeutic technique based on the patient to achieve the most effective patient outcomes. Humanistic existential therapy seeks an in-depth understanding of the large sense of oneself to facilitate self-actualization. CBT deploys the bidirectional interconnection between cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical relationships to impact positive change in behavior and thinking for better physical and psychological wellbeing. Lastly, the sources used are scholarly since they are peer-reviewed journal articles, published within the last five years and from sites recommended for scholarly articles such as NCBI, PubMed, CINAHL, and MEDLINE.