Assignment Prompt & Instructions
Please see attachment
**files (1)**
– ## Quitaweek7.docx
**## Quitaweek7.docx**
2
**Step 1: Select One Topic**
Choose
**one** of the following healthcare access problems:
· Lack of health insurance
· Rural hospital closures
· Unequal access to mental health services
· Emergency department overuse for nonemergency care
· OR another access issue
**approved** by the professor
**Step 2: Paper Structure & Required Sections**
1.
**Introduction (1 pages)**
· Introduce the healthcare access issue and its importance.
· Identify the population(s) most affected.
· State your thesis—that is, what sociological explanation you will argue.
2.
**Background & Scope of the Problem (1 pages)**
· Describe the issue using recent data (incidence, prevalence, trends).
· Discuss who is affected (race, class, gender, geography, age).
· Use at least one statistic from a reputable source (CDC, HRSA, CMS, AHRQ, peer-reviewed literature).
· Integrate relevant sections from Barkan (2023) on healthcare structure, inequality, or access.
3.
**Sociological Frameworks & Concepts (2 pages)**
Apply
**at least four** sociological frameworks from the course.
Options include the following:
· Structural inequality
· Social stratification
· Conflict theory
· Symbolic interactionism
· Social determinants of health
· Medicalization
· Fundamental cause theory
· Structural functionalism
Explain the following:
· Why the problem exists sociologically
· How structures, institutions, and power maintain the inequality
· How Barkan frames inequality in the U.S. healthcare system
4.
**Contributing Factors (1 pages)**
Analyze factors that shape access barriers, such as the following:
· Economic factors
· Race and ethnicity
· Geography (e.g., the rural–urban divide)
· Insurance design
· Provider shortages
· Social stigma (especially for mental health)
· Political and institutional factors
This section should link the problem to broader patterns of inequality in American society.
5.
**Policy Analysis & Policy Solutions (1 pages)**
**Required Section**
You must analyze
**at least two existing policies** and propose
**one evidence-based recommendation.**
E.
**Current Policy Landscape**
Describe relevant current policies (federal, state, or organizational)—for example:
1. Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions
1. Medicaid expansion
1. HRSA rural hospital programs
1. Mental health parity laws
1. EMTALA
1. Telehealth expansion policies
Discuss the following:
1. What each policy was designed to do
1. Who benefits and who is left out
1. Where policy gaps remain
E.
**Proposed Policy Recommendation**
2. Present one realistic, research-supported policy solution.
2. Use evidence from research to justify why it would reduce inequality.
2. Connect the recommendation to sociological concepts (e.g., addressing structural barriers).
6.
**Conclusion (0.5 page)**
Summarize the following:
· The sociological explanation of the issue
· Key findings
· Why addressing the issue matters for reducing health inequality in the U.S.
No new information should be added here.
**## Quitaweek7.docx**
2
**Step 1: Select One Topic**
Choose
**one** of the following healthcare access problems:
· Lack of health insurance
· Rural hospital closures
· Unequal access to mental health services
· Emergency department overuse for nonemergency care
· OR another access issue
**approved** by the professor
**Step 2: Paper Structure & Required Sections**
1.
**Introduction (1 pages)**
· Introduce the healthcare access issue and its importance.
· Identify the population(s) most affected.
· State your thesis—that is, what sociological explanation you will argue.
2.
**Background & Scope of the Problem (1 pages)**
· Describe the issue using recent data (incidence, prevalence, trends).
· Discuss who is affected (race, class, gender, geography, age).
· Use at least one statistic from a reputable source (CDC, HRSA, CMS, AHRQ, peer-reviewed literature).
· Integrate relevant sections from Barkan (2023) on healthcare structure, inequality, or access.
3.
**Sociological Frameworks & Concepts (2 pages)**
Apply
**at least four** sociological frameworks from the course.
Options include the following:
· Structural inequality
· Social stratification
· Conflict theory
· Symbolic interactionism
· Social determinants of health
· Medicalization
· Fundamental cause theory
· Structural functionalism
Explain the following:
· Why the problem exists sociologically
· How structures, institutions, and power maintain the inequality
· How Barkan frames inequality in the U.S. healthcare system
4.
**Contributing Factors (1 pages)**
Analyze factors that shape access barriers, such as the following:
· Economic factors
· Race and ethnicity
· Geography (e.g., the rural–urban divide)
· Insurance design
· Provider shortages
· Social stigma (especially for mental health)
· Political and institutional factors
This section should link the problem to broader patterns of inequality in American society.
5.
**Policy Analysis & Policy Solutions (1 pages)**
**Required Section**
You must analyze
**at least two existing policies** and propose
**one evidence-based recommendation.**
E.
**Current Policy Landscape**
Describe relevant current policies (federal, state, or organizational)—for example:
1. Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions
1. Medicaid expansion
1. HRSA rural hospital programs
1. Mental health parity laws
1. EMTALA
1. Telehealth expansion policies
Discuss the following:
1. What each policy was designed to do
1. Who benefits and who is left out
1. Where policy gaps remain
E.
**Proposed Policy Recommendation**
2. Present one realistic, research-supported policy solution.
2. Use evidence from research to justify why it would reduce inequality.
2. Connect the recommendation to sociological concepts (e.g., addressing structural barriers).
6.
**Conclusion (0.5 page)**
Summarize the following:
· The sociological explanation of the issue
· Key findings
· Why addressing the issue matters for reducing health inequality in the U.S.
No new information should be added here.