Final Due

Final Research Project (30% of grade)

due in Week 8

The Final Research Project maps to the following ANTH 350 learning outcomes (course objectives):

describe the role of culture in health, illness, and healing and medical anthropology’s contributions to individual and public health in domestic and international contexts describe the local and global political, social, and economic factors that influence individual and public health to shape programs and policies apply the perspectives and methods of anthropology to promote individual and public health in domestic and international contexts

Part 3: Final Project (completed in three stages) (Due Week 8)

Privacy concerns about the final project: The final project asks you to discuss your own and your household members’ personal health and illness-related ideas, behaviors, and concerns, as well as the personal environments in which you live; however, you should

not disclose or discuss any information that you want to keep private. These projects are for your instructor’s eyes only- they are not to be submitted in any public classroom areas and they will not be used for any purpose other than to assess your mastery of the material covered in this course. You control the information you include.

Stage 1

In stage 1, you will conduct a rapid ethnographic assessment of the “production of health” in your own household, using each of the three theoretical perspectives anthropologists use to better explain and understand health/illness-related phenomena.

Start your observations for this project as soon as the class begins!

Project activities will include (again, include only information you would be comfortable discussing publicly):

• an inventory of health/illness-related products in the household (e.g., prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, medical devices, any foods or supplements eaten for health reasons, books or anything you consider “health or illness related”
• a record of health-seeking behavior exhibited by household members
• descriptions of at least one illness episode occurring in the household currently or during the previous six months, including information about the decisions that were made, who made the decisions, and so forth
• explanatory models of any illness episodes or chronic illnesses
• a record of health/illness-related conversations with others
• a list of resources that have an impact on your household’s health/illness-related ideas and behaviors and household health status (e.g., time, health insurance, social support)
• features of your community, state, national, and global environments that you think have an impact on your household’s heath/illness-related ideas and behaviors and household health status (e.g., national health insurance, industrial pollution, infectious agents)

30 points

Stage 2

In stage 2, you will use what you learned in stage 1 about your own household’s production of health, as well as readings and discussions, to create an intervention to address this issue in your household. The intervention may promote wellness, prevent disease, educate household members, or be intended to cure or alleviate suffering in some way. This exercise is not “for real” (unless you want it to be), and it can be as creative as you like. For example, if someone in your household suffers from chronic pain, based on your reading about how people from different cultural worlds cope with chronic pain, you might design an intervention that incorporates heat and ice, pain medications, acupuncture, meditation, psychotherapy, and shamanic healing.

You will also explain (1) the ideas (theories) about the body, wellness, illness, and healing that underlie the intervention(s) you have chosen, and (2)the features of the physical, political, social, and economic environment that will either facilitate or impede the implementation of your intervention (e.g., health insurance does not cover psychotherapy, the physical labor required by the person’s job is the source of their pain, or – happily- a shaman lives next door and refuses payment for his services!). Additionally, try to anticipate any unintended effects (either positive or negative) from this intervention.

30 points

Stage 3

In stage 3, you will design a plan to evaluate the intervention you developed in stage 2. This does not mean you must actually implement your intervention, but you need to know what you want to accomplish and how you will know if you did. Your plan must include:

• intervention activities: What will you do in your intervention, and how much of each activity will you do? For example, your intervention may include walking for exercise. How often will you walk, for how long, and at what speed?

• measurable outcomes: Exactly what do you want your intervention to accomplish? For example, you may want to lose 40 pounds.

• measurement model: How will you know whether you have achieved your intended outcomes? For example, you may weigh yourself at the end of your intervention.

30 points

(10 points for proper APA/AAA style, grammar, spelling, quality of writing and inclusion scholarly references) This paper should be 5 -8 pages in length, double-spaced with 12 point font, not including tables or the reference list.Total assignment points possible for this assignment is 100 points.