· Identify steps for gathering relevant information to determine disease outbreak.

PUBLIC HEALTH, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND HEALTH STATISTICS
Modular Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to satisfy the following outcomes:

· Case

· Describe epidemiology of a communicable disease..

· SLP

· Research literature for relevant information including health and disease statistics to assess significance of a communicable disease..

· Discussion

· Identify steps for gathering relevant information to determine disease outbreak.

Module Overview

Background and Context

The BHS499 capstone course challenges you to synthesize what you have learned in your BSHS program’s core courses to develop a plan that addresses a “real-world” topic in health care. As you proceed through the assignments, you will have an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained from your previous coursework while conducting research to interpret the issues and implications of a health/healthcare topic from the perspective of a health professional, and developing a plan to address the issue.

Throughout the course, you will be expected to incorporate several information resources from different media (such as professional and scholarly sources, educational videos, news broadcasts and articles, consumer information sources, and interviews with health professionals) to this project and to evaluate the relative merits of competing resources with respect to the expectations of this project.

Foundation for this Project

Congratulations! You have been hired as Assistant Manager of a Home Health Care Agency. The agency offers a wide range of skilled medical services such as nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy from qualified medical professionals. The agency also provides home health aide services including assistance with activities of daily living, such as bathing and eating.

Your supervisor told you that she recently received a call from an advocate whom an employee consulted via the Employee Assistance Program because the employee felt that she had been treated unfairly after contracting an illness. She explained that a few months ago, one of your agency’s home health aides, Sara, became ill. Sara had been coughing for approximately six weeks, lost weight without trying, had no appetite, was having difficulty sleeping, and had an intermittent fever. She became concerned and went to see a healthcare professional who diagnosed her with active tuberculosis (TB).

Sara missed a lot of time from work while completing treatment for TB. Her physician cleared her to return to work after she was no longer contagious. Upon returning to work, Sara felt isolated because her boss and co-workers refused to spend time with her. She heard that someone from the agency’s Human Resources Department told her co-workers her diagnosis. The stressful circumstances at work became even worse when another home health aide started to display the same symptoms Sara had.

Your supervisor has asked you to review the entire situation and how it was handled by the agency. Each module includes information about epidemiology, health statistics, public health, health communication and advocacy, health literacy, healthcare delivery systems, the Affordable Care Act, ethical considerations, human resources management, legal aspects, cultural and global perspectives, and financial considerations for the organization.

Your methodology over the next few weeks will be to arrange interviews with the relevant individuals, departments, and agencies, in addition to researching professional and scholarly sources, educational videos, and news articles. You will evaluate the information you gather throughout the course of your investigation in order to determine the best course of action. Ultimately, the information will be used to formulate policies and create an employee education presentation.

Module 1 – Background

PUBLIC HEALTH, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND HEALTH STATISTICS

Required Reading

Byron, P. (2016, July 11). History of tuberculosis in the United States to be explored in unprecedented depth. Virginia Tech. Retrieved from https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2016/07/clahs-tuberculosisforum.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016). Tuberculosis (TB). Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/tb/

Miramontes, R., Hill, A. N., Woodruff, R. S. Y., Lambert, L. A., Navin, T. R., Castro, K. G., & LoBue, P. A. (2015). Tuberculosis infection in the United States: Prevalence estimates from the national health and nutrition examination survey, 2011-2012. PLoS One, 10(11) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140881

Yuen, C. M., Kammerer, J. S., Marks, K., Navin, T. R., & France, A. M. (2016). Recent transmission of tuberculosis — United States, 2011-2014. PLoS One, 11(4) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153728