Community Environmental Health

You must read minimum five environmental health research articles from different peer-reviewed
journals about one specific environmental health problem/threat (i.e., Journal of the American Medical
Association, New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, and Environmental
Health Perspectives) and choose minimum three articles to write about. Focus on original research
work. Maximum one research comparison paper can be used. Be sure, you have read full scholarly
papers and not just the abstracts. News articles, press releases, and consumer information such as
“WebMD” or Wikipedia are not appropriate. The articles must be published after January 2010.
In 10 pages (minimum 2,000 words), 1.5 spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font paper (in APA style) try
to answer to the following questions:
What health problem does the article discuss?
What issue (i.e. polluted lake water, air or soil) does the article say is related to the health problem?
What is the evidence provided on the source of the problem or deficiencies in the community (e.g. was a
study conducted, did people get ill and seek medical attention, or was the evidence just anecdotal
meaning people ‘thought’ there was a problem but no factual evidence existed)?
What population or groups of people (i.e. children or the elderly) are at greatest risk in this community?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the study?
What future research should be conducted to address the areas of weakness cited above?
Develop your opinions based on knowledge gained from your readings, use complete sentences and
provide enough information to clearly communicate what the article is about. Grammar and spelling
count, so proofread your work. Please remember that we are looking for a problem which is reportedly
impacting human health or which has the potential to do so. When answering the questions keep in
mind that you are required to analyze the situation laid out in the article and respond in your own
words.