Social Determinants of Health

• Use time new roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages and your student number printed as a footer on every page.
• Word count limit: 3200.
• The word limits stated for this assignment excludes the reference list at the end of the assignment but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct quotations, in-text citations, footnotes, tables, diagrams, and graphs). Please be aware that exceeding the word count limit will affect the academic judgement of the piece of work and may result in the award of a lower mark. Please make sure you do not provide +/-10% of the word limit.
• Appendices are not considered a supplement, and thus, will not be assessed as part of the content of the assignment. As such, they will not contribute to the grade awarded, however it may be appropriate to use an Appendices section for any material which is a useful reference for the reader. Please note that appendices are not included in the word count.
• The majority of references should come from primary sources (e.g., journal articles, conference papers, reports, etc.) although you can also utilise area specific textbooks. You must ensure that you use the APA style of referencing.

Please indicate the word count length at the end of your assignment.

Learning outcomes assessed in this assessment

1. Critically analyze key explanations for inequalities in health and the role of the social determinants of health.
2. Critically evaluate policies and strategies aimed at improving health and reducing health inequalities.

Assessment Guidelines

In the second assignment, please chose a public health issue from the listed below and examine the social determinants of health impacting the chosen issue in your country. Critically evaluate the policies and strategies aimed at improving the chosen for assignment public health issue and make suggestions of public health actions and evidence-based interventions to tackle the problem.
Public Health issues:

• Poverty reduction

Your work should include and cover the following sections/aspects and content (as shown and stated in the table below). The specific percentage marks allocated to each section/aspect of your work is stated below.

Your work should
include and cover the following sections/aspects Content to cover Marks available
Introduction Provide an overview and public health importance of the chosen public health issue in your own country. Discuss the relevant statistics and economic burden of the issue locally (your own country) and globally.

A brief outline of the selected public health issue in the context of your country.
Definitions, link to public health;Why is it important to your country?
What is the current situation in your country in terms of the chosen issue?
Provide numerical data to demonstrate the burden of the problem (i.e. poverty rates, gross minimum wages, morbidity/mortality indicators, unemployment rates etc) 15 Marks
Discussion Identify the social determinants (use one of the theoretical models of social determinants of health) and critically discuss their impact on the chosen issue and health inequalities.

Overview of one of the Conceptual Models of Social Determinants of Health (e.g. Dahlgren and Whitehead, 1991; Barton and Grant, 2006).
Critical analysis of relevant social determinants of health impacting the chosen issue in a particular country (e.g. effect of education, income level on the poverty level);
Social and health inequalities related to the chosen topic to be discussed.
Evidence supporting the arguments to be provided 30 Marks
Implications Critically evaluate policies, strategies and regulations currently put in place related to the chosen public health issue in your own country.

Recommendations/Suggestions of evidence-based interventions (proven to be effective in addressing the issue) and public health actions in order to tackle the identified barriers towards the improvement of the chosen public health issue (e.g. interventions for increasing accessibility to primary school education in rural areas etc) 30 Marks
Conclusion Effective summary of key points.
Should include a concise summary of the major points discussed throughout the essay. No new ideas and inferences to be made in this section. 10 Marks
Presentation and referencing High quality presentation that conforms to principles of academic writing and contains minimal errors in sentence construction, grammar and punctuation. The assignment followed appropriate academic conventions regarding in- text citations and referencing. 15 Marks
Here are few more general tips and reminders for your assignment:
• It is always advisable to use the allocated grade for each section of the assessment to guide the proportion of the word count devoted to each section. More discussions will be expected in the sections that constitute more of your grades
• Make sure your discussions are supported by appropriate research evidence through references cited properly using the Harvard Referencing Style guide
• Engagement with primary research activities, including data collection is strictly not allowed for any assignment on this module