You will describe an assigned major health issue and associated diagnosis in your assigned community. Then, you will assess how your hypothetical patient with the associated diagnosis would progress through a minimum of four

Community Profile and Continuum of Care

n this Assignment, you will integrate theory into practice as you develop a community profile for the community that you have been assigned, including social determinants of health. You will describe an assigned major health issue and associated diagnosis in your assigned community. Then, you will assess how your hypothetical patient with the associated diagnosis would progress through a minimum of four actual healthcare settings across the continuum of care in your assigned community.

Note: By Monday of this week, your instructor should have assigned you to a health community (city/state) and a health issue, from which you will select a specific diagnosis. If you have not been assigned to both by the start of this week, contact your instructor. You must be assigned to a city/state and health issue by your instructor. Do not select a different city/state or health issue. You will analyze this community and diagnosis throughout Week 9. Each of your colleagues will be assigned to a different community (city/state). There are five main health issues covered in this course, so although you will likely be researching the same health issue as some of your colleagues, it is also likely that the specific diagnoses you and your colleagues choose will differ.  

For this week’s Assignment, you will write a 4- to 5-page paper that analyzes your assigned community and chosen diagnosis, including the social determinants of health (SDOH). Your health issue will be one of the top five (5) leading causes of death and you will analyze at least four to five actual healthcare settings across the continuum in your assigned geographic area.

You will need to include at least four APA-formatted references. You will be provided a template, and please be sure to include a title page, in-text citations, and a separate reference page—all formatted per APA 7. You will build upon this Assignment throughout Week 9 to include group discussions and improvement plan assignments based on the assigned community.

To prepare for this Assignment: 

• Download and save the Community Profile and Continuum of Care Template document, found in the Learning Resources.
• Your instructor will assign you a geographic area, as well as one of the following health conditions:
  • Diseases of heart (heart disease)
  • Malignant neoplasms (cancer)
  • Accidents (unintentional injuries)
  • Chronic lower respiratory diseases
  • Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)
• Identify a specific diagnosis that falls within your assigned health issue.
  • Of the five health issues listed above, you will need to go one step farther. For example, if your assigned health issue was autoimmune disease, you could choose multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, or another autoimmune disease as your specific diagnosis.
• Research your assigned health issue for your assigned geographical area. One place to start your search is the CDC’s Leading Causes of DeathLinks to an external site. website.
• Consider the continuum of care and how your hypothetical patient would move through unique settings as they address their health issue. For example, in the Continuum of Care Settings Based on Health Issue resource, a patient experiencing a heart attack would go through multiple settings, not just the “one setting of a hospital.”

Submit a 4- to 5-page succinct paper using the Community Profile and Continuum of Care Template, to include the following:

• Title page (separate)
• Analyze your assigned health community to include:
  • Introduction
  • Community profile
    • Description of the community
    • Social determinates of health for the community
    • Leading causes of death for the community
  • Healthcare settings in the community
    • Four or five actual healthcare settings or services across the continuum of care
  • Summary and conclusion
• Reference page.
  • List all sources (a minimum of four) used to develop your paper.
  • Adhere to APA 7 formatting guidelines for title, in-text citations, and references pages.

Your paper should be consistent with graduate-level writing, as described in the rubric. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources, as appropriate. Refer to the APA Style: OverviewLinks to an external site. page to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct. Refer to the Week 3 Assignment Rubric for additional requirements related to research and scholarly writing, as well as specific grading elements and criteria. Your instructor will use this grading rubric to assess your work.