allow you to synthesize research about,and apply the biopsychosocial model

The purpose of the research paper is to allow you to synthesize research about

and apply the

biopsychosocial model to a specific health issue. Your paper involves choosing a specific health

issue, researching how that situation/disease develops and the factors that contribute to it, and

current treatment, education,and/or prevention approaches.

Choose a topic from the following list;

Exercise (e.g., to treat depression

)

Behavioral Factors in Cardiovascular Disease

Eating disorders or obesity

Smoking

(e.g., multimodal smoking cessation programs)

Alcohol/Substance Abuse (e.g.,

changing problem behaviors)

Pain management

Stress management

Stress and illness

Immunizations/

vaccinations

Adherence to medical treatment regimens

Health impact of caregiving (e.g., family members

of Alzheimer’s patients

Behavioral Factors in Cancers

Behavioral Factors in Diabetes

Living with Chronic Illness

Survivorship & grief

Hospice vs. hospital care for the dying

Narrow your topic and consider what kind of information you need

For example, if your chosen topic is “adherence to medical treatment regimens,”you could focus on issues surrounding adherence to treatment in newly diagnosed diabetics or HIV patients

.You then need to think about issues related to prevention, coping, or treatment

.Your focus will depend upon the topic you select. For example you may focus on

prevention if you choose smoking,coping if you choose cancer, or treatment if you choose stress and illness How you narrow your topic dictates what key words you need to search the literature (and what you find in the literature may

help you narrow your topic).

Conduct research Your paper must include at least 5 primary scholarly references (i.e., not textbooks, not popular magazine articles, not the Web).

It is fine to use your textbook for useful information about your topic, but you must move beyond your

text and search the relevant literature.

Focus on sources that help you understand:

(a)

the nature of the topic or its

definition

(b)

how this behavior or disease develops and important contributing

factors

(look for biologica

l, social, emot

ional, and cognitive

factors)

(c)

current treatment or prevention approaches (e.g., cognitive or family

therapy, drugs, exercise)

WRITING THE PAPER

Content Requirements

(depending on your topic, you may need to organize your paper

differently than this, but the content should still include these kinds of issues):



Describe the natu

re of your topic (~1 page

)



Discuss factors that cause and contribute to the behavior or dise

e (hint: think BPS

model; ~

–

pages)

Synthesize the research by topic rather than summarizing article

–

article.

Note that for every factual statement you make in your paper, you must include an

–

text reference (which is then included in the reference

list at the end of the

paper).

Further, you may only include those sources in your reference list that are

actually cited in the paper.



Summarize current treatments

or prevention approaches (~2

page

)



Reflect on this health issue from the perspective of t

he BPS model (e.g., what’s left out?)

and your ow

n life experience (~1

–

2 page

Format Requirements:



The body of the paper (excluding title page

and refe

rences page) should be 6

–

double

–

spaced, typed pages.



Papers must follow APA style in terms of the

title page, proper referencing

(and

reference list)

, and professional writing style.

If you have questions about APA style,

you should consult the APA’s publication manual (6

edition).



Refere

nces must be from 2000 or later.

EVALUATION

The best papers will:



demonstrate good understanding of a specific example of the chosen topic



demonstrate comprehension of the factors involved in causing, maintaining, contributing

to, preventing, and treating the health issue



demonstrate your ability to apply the biopsychos

ocial model to this issue



demonstrate your ability to synthesize information from a variety of sources



be well

–

written and meet the format and APA

style requirements

Solution Preview

Introduction

Obesity is generally known by many people as being abnormally fat. However, there are the correct medical definitions that seek to explain obesity on all levels. According to Ogden et al,. (2014) obesity is a medical condition where excess fat accumulates in one’s body, raising health hazards since people with obesity are prone to cardiovascular diseases. Further research identifies a person as obese when his Body Mass Index, which is gotten by dividing one’s weight with the square of the person’s height and it is recorded to be over 30kg/m². Notably, the Body Mass Index is achieved by dividing a person’s weight by the square of his height.

(2,356 words)