NR586NP Week 4: Application of Epidemiology
Preparing the Assignment
Follow these guidelines when completing each component of the assignment. Contact your course faculty if you have questions.
General Instructions
Investigate population health and epidemiological data to learn about prevalent disease trends within your geographic region. Compare and contrast the prevalence of diseases in the selected region with disease rates and trends in a different geographic area of your choosing.
Statistics from valid, reliable sources such as professional population health-focused organizations, governmental agencies, local and state health departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are appropriate sources to validate assessment findings.
- Download the Application of Epidemiology templateLinks to an external site.Open this document with ReadSpeaker docReader .
- Complete the Application of Epidemiology template to answer the questions related to your investigation. Use of this template is required. If the template is not used, a 10% deduction will be applied. See the rubric. Save the template and include your name in the file name.
- Follow APA grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation rules consistent with formal, scholarly writing.
- Use APA in-text citations and complete references to support your writing.
- Abide by Chamberlain University’s academic integrity policy.
- Submit the completed Application of Epidemiology template to the Week 4 Assignment Dropbox.
Include the Following Sections (detailed criteria listed below and in the grading rubric)
- Prevalent Infectious and Chronic Diseases
- Describe the selected geographic region
- Identify the prevalent infectious and chronic diseases in the region
- Compare and contrast the prevalence of those diseases in a separate geographic region of your choosing, noting similarities and differences.
- Discuss the variables that contribute to the noted similarities and differences.
- Provide an in-text citation from one scholarly source to support your writing.
- Application of the Epidemiological Model
- Select and describe one of the prevalent diseases noted in the previous section.
- Discuss physical and social determinants of health that influence the disease process.
- Identify and explain one epidemiological model that will be applied to the selected disease (i.e., Epidemiological Triangle, Web of Causation, or another legitimate epidemiological model).
- Apply the epidemiological model to the selected disease in a well-developed, comprehensive manner, addressing the entire model.
- Provide an in-text citation from one scholarly source to support your writing.
- Levels of Prevention
- Explain the levels of prevention used within population health practice.
- Discuss one primary prevention to address the disease.
- Discuss one secondary prevention to address the disease.
- Discuss one tertiary prevention to address the disease.
- Provide an in-text citation from one scholarly source to support your writing.
- Reflection
- Describe how the advanced practice nurse can monitor the application and efficacy of the prevention strategy.
- Discuss how you will apply the identified prevention strategies in your practice.
- Reflect on what you have learned from this assignment.
Solution: NR586NP Week 4: Application of Epidemiology
Prevalent Infectious and Chronic Diseases
- Describe the selected geographic region.
My geographic region is New York (NY) State which is located in the northeastern United States (U.S.) and with a total population of 19,867,248 (U.S Census Bureau, 2024). It encompasses diverse landscapes, including urban centers like the NY City and rural areas in upstate regions. This diversity contributes to varied health outcomes across the state.
- Identify the prevalent infectious and chronic diseases in the region.
In NY, the leading mortality causes are heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control [CDC] (2024), in 2022, 159.2 people in every 100,000 (that is, 43,237 people) in NY state died of heart disease; while 122.4 out of every 100,000 people (about 32,655) died of cancer. COVID-19 was a leading infectious disease mortality cause in 2022, claiming 11,129 lives (41.4/100,000) (CDC, 2024). However, the mortality rates have dropped off with the end of the pandemic era. Another infectious disease on the rise in the NY state is pertussis (whooping cough), with a 169% rise in 2024, compared to 2023 and close to a 500% increase in cases compared to the same period in 2019 (CDC, 2024a; Worrell, 2024). Pneumonia/influenza is also a leading infectious disease mortality cause in NY, having claimed 4,065 deaths in 2022, a mortality rate of 15.1/100,000 (CDC, 2024).
- Compare and contrast the prevalence of diseases in the selected region with disease rates and trends in a different geographic area of your choosing, noting similarities and differences.
The state of comparison is Alabama, found in the southeastern U.S., with a total population of 5,157,699 (U.S Census Bureau, 2024). It is a mix of urban and rural settings, with significant portions of the population residing in rural areas. In Alabama, similarly to NY, heart disease and cancer are the leading chronic disease mortality causes. However, Alabama’s mortality rate from heart disease is significantly higher than NY, indicating a greater burden of this chronic condition in Alabama. In Alabama, heart disease and cancer claimed respectively 14,958 lives (234.2/100,000) and 10,328 lives (154.4/100,000) in 2022. The death rates in Alabama are significantly higher than in NY. Similarly, COVID0-19 and pneumonia/ influenza are leading infectious disease mortality causes in Alabama, having been accountable for 3,576 (54.6/100,000) and 957 (14.9/100,000) deaths in 2022. Alabama has also reported a significant spike in whooping cough in 2024, whose rates increased by 300% compared to the same period in 2023 (Rocha, 2024).
- Discuss the variables that contribute to the noted similarities and differences.
Different variables contribute to similarities and differences in disease prevalence between the NY States and Alabama. These include lifestyle factors, socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, neighborhood, and physical environment, etc. (Chaturvedi et al., 2024). As noted, NY has more total deaths from diseases, but Alabama’s death rate is higher. This is….Click the paypal icon to purchase full solution for $10
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