Essay Topic — ‘Plant sterols may help lower cholesterol’
IN BRIEF:
Length: 600 words (+ or – 10%);
Weight: 40% of your final grade;
Purpose:
In Australia, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year in the pursuit of greater health.
One result of this tendency is that we find ourselves bombarded with health claims: claims about how a food or other product can improve one’s health.
As part of the next generation of health care professionals, it is important that you are able to critically evaluate whether or not such health claims are supported by evidence. That is what this unit will help you to do.
In this first task, you will develop your knowledge of a particular health claim.
Later, you will learn:
i) how to critically evaluate scientific evidence regarding that same health claim, and.
ii) how to communicate your knowledge regarding that health claim to those to whom it is directed.
INSTRUCTIONS
The task:
Your goal in this essay is to evaluate the importance of your chosen health claim. (Note: your topic must be approved by your instructor before you start your research for this assessment).
Put simply, if a health claim is addressed to lots of people, targets vulnerable people, or addresses a severe illness, then it is probably important.
To evaluate the importance of your chosen health claim, your essay must investigate and report on the following things:
What precisely is the health claim that is being made?
What organisation (or type of organisation) promotes this health claim?
To what problem (illness, ailment, etc.) What does the health claim refer to?
What is the scale of this problem in Australia? (e.g. how many people does it affect, how severe are its effects, how much does this problem cost, etc.)
Your essay should have a short introductory paragraph (60-90 words) that identifies your chosen health claim and outlines the structure of the rest of your paper.
Your essay should then consist of a number of paragraphs – perhaps one each addressing the four points above – that are ordered in a logical manner.
Your essay should end with a brief conclusion that explains the importance of the health claim.
Lastly, you should reference your essay carefully, showing the sources – including websites – which you have consulted.
Written assignment requirements:
Written in clear, concise English (proofread)
Correct terminology must be used accurately and appropriately
Written in sentences and paragraphs. Subheadings are permitted.
Word processed, Arial font, 12pt, 1.5 spaced, font colour black
Harvard referencing or APA 7th style guide applied (note: you need to be consistent
with the referencing style you chose to apply)
Useful Links:
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/high-cholesterol/latest-release
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25742922/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22378727/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27473562/
Other sites we use for learning:
CINAHL
MEDILINE
EBSCOHOST
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