Instructions
Your paper needs to be accurate, evidence-based, up-to-date, and convincing. This assignment is
based on your selected topic of interest or expertise. Based on the assumption that the selected
societal-level issue exists, students must provide analytical evidence that it does exist, that it
impacts a specific group of people, and must present strategies for eliminating or reducing it.
Your paper should provide an overview of the specific societal-level issue, an explanation as to
why the issue appears to exist or not, evidence from reliable published articles and/or reputable
organizations (i.e., National Institutes of Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
World Health Organization, American Cancer Society, New Jersey Department of Health, etc.),
and recommendations for strategies or programs at the policy, individual, community, and/or
organizational levels that could be undertaken to reduce or eliminate the issue. Your paper must
follow the formatting set forth by the American Psychological Association 7th edition (APA)
guidelines. For more details on following proper formatting, visit the Purdue Online Writing
Lab: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html. You will present in class using a slideshow
presentation (i.e., PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, etc.) for 5-8 minutes.

Step 1: Document the Societal-Level Issue
You will need to perform a search of extant information using reliable published articles (i.e.,
using the Montclair State University Library Database) and the websites of reputable
organizations (i.e., NIH, CDC, WHO, American Cancer Society, Red Cross, New Jersey
Department of Health, etc.) in order to locate the most up-to-date statistics available on the
prevalence/incidence of the societal-level issue and other information on its severity or impact on
a specific group of people (your target group) (i.e., individuals living in poverty, individuals
from a certain ethnic group, etc.). The statistics that you present on the specific issue in your
target group should be compared with that reported for the general U.S. population, a specific
reference group (i.e., Caucasians), or both.

Step 2: Overview of the Causes of the Issue in Your Target Group
Outline the possible environmental, structural, social, cultural, or behavioral causes that might
have been historically responsible for the societal-level issue and those that are responsible for
maintaining it in current times. As stated in Step 1, use information from reliable published
articles or organizations to support your claims. In addition, you can also use information from
reputable news sources [i.e., National Public Radio (NPR)] for additional emphasis and support
of your claims.

HLTH355-02: SP2022 Research Paper; P. 2

Step 3: Identify Specific Causes that You Think Should be Targeted for Your Target
Group   
Based on your research, identify the major factor(s) that you believe are the root of the societal-
level issue in question and that you suggest should be targeted to reduce or eliminate the issue in
your target group.

Step 4: Discuss Major Issues that need to be Taken into Consideration when Developing
Specific Interventions for Your Issue and Target Group
Discuss some of the major issues which need to be considered (i.e., improving health literacy,
cultural competency, improved healthcare access, health education) in order to be able to
develop effective strategies to reduce or eliminate the issue for your target group. For this
section, you should consider which ones would give the biggest bang for the buck and which
would be most sustainable.   

Step 5: Describe the Strategy(s) that you Propose to Reduce or Eliminate the Specific Issue
in Your Target Group
Based on the evidence, describe in detail strategies at the policy, individual, community, and/or
organizational levels that should receive greater funding and/or political priority. You must
explain the reason(s) why you selected these particular strategies and if there is any evidence for
their effectiveness for your target group (or similar groups). This should be as evidence-based as
possible.

Step 6: Discuss Potential Threats to Strategy Implementation
Finally, discuss the challenges that you anticipate would occur in implementing the proposed
strategy(s) to reduce or eliminate the issue in your target group.

Step 7: References
You must use at least five (5) references, with at least one (1) being from a peer-reviewed
journal. You can use Social Injustice and Public Health and your selected book from your Book
Club as references but make sure to use references from reliable published articles and
organizations. Citations from Wikipedia and/or low-quality web sources may be used sparingly
but they will not count as one of the five required references.

Step 8: Write Your Paper
Introduction (1 paragraph)
Documenting Societal Level Issue (1 pages)
Overview of the Causes (1 page)
Causes that Need to be Targeted (1 page)
Major Issues that Need to be Taken into Consideration (1 page)
Proposed Strategy or Strategies (2 pages)
HLTH355-02: SP2022 Research Paper; P. 3

Potential Threats to Strategy Implementation (1 page)
Conclusion (1 paragraph)
References/Bibliography