DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
CONSUMER
HEALTH-Online
HCSV 325-01
Spring Semester 2006
Instructor:
Dr. Peter L. Cruise, Associate
Professor, HCSV Department
Contact Information:
Office phone: (530) 898-6661
Office FAX: (530) 898-5107
E-mail: Post
e-mail messages for me on the WebCT course page, or
Online office
hours: In the Course General Chat Room, or by individual
appointment
Mondays 12:00-2:00pm; 5:00-6:00pm
1. Scope of Course
This online
course will examine major consumer health perspectives from historical and
contemporary viewpoints. Issues of cost,
availability, and quality of health care and their relationship to political
and economic activity will be discussed.
National, regional, and local health trends (including the rise of
alternative and non-traditional health care consumer choices) will be
identified and analyzed. Individual and
collective consumer strategies will be analyzed.
HCSV 325 fulfills the
requirements of the General Education Upper Division Theme, Contemporary
Health Issues, Area D. This course
has a 1500 word writing requirement, which is discussed in more detail
elsewhere in the course outline. The
course addresses concepts of well being, health and disease; focuses attention
on how class, ethnicity, and gender affect selected health problems; teaches
methods for distinguishing hearsay from valid information; develops knowledge
and skills for making effective decisions that enhance health, and facilitate
and understanding of public policy; and addresses the impact of biology,
ethics, morality, politics, economics, and culture upon heath, health care, and
public policy.
Students enrolled in
this course will receive General Education Upper Division Theme credit only if
they have completed 45 or more credits prior to taking this course.
2. Required Reading Materials
·
Stephen Barrett,
William Jarvis, Manfred Kroger and William London Consumer Health: A Guide to
Intelligent Decisions, 7th Edition. (
·
Online readings found
on the WebCT course web pages
·
Diana Hacker A
Pocket Style Manual, 4th Edition. (
3. Course Format
This class is entirely web based. There are no in person sessions. All readings,
assignments and tests are found in the assigned textbook or on the WebCT course
pages. All assignments and tests must be completed online and posted in the
appropriate sections of the WebCT course pages.
4. Grading
There are a total of
four assignments for this course. NO
extra credit or make up work is available. There will be two objective (true/false,
multiple choice, fill in the blank) tests during the semester on the dates
indicated on the course outline (assignments 1-2). The tests are non-cumulative. There will be one consumer health care
choices paper due for each student, described later in the course outline
(assignment 3). Lastly, there will be a
weekly postings and discussion board assignments required for each student
(assignment 4).
All the assignments
just described carry equal point values (i.e., a maximum of 250 points for each
of the four assignments). The total possible points for all four assignments are
1000.
If assignments are
late (e.g., tests not taken during the appropriate time period, assignments not
posted before discussion threads are closed out), there will be a point deduction
penalty imposed. The amount of points
lost will be at the discretion of the instructor. If an assignment is missing,
there can be no points available for that particular activity.
Final Course Grade Scale:
A........ 930 - 1000 C+...... 770 - 799
A-....... 900 - 929 C........ 730
- 769
B+...... 870 - 899 C-....... 700
- 729
B........ 830 - 869 D+...... 660
- 699
B-....... 800 - 829 D........ 600
– 659
5.
Projects
and Activities
·
Course
readings and posting activities (250 total points possible; up to 18 points for
each week’s posting): Based on the assigned textbook chapters and online web readings
there will be various discussion board posting assignments due each week. The specific details for each weekly discussion
board posting assignment are contained on the WebCT course content pages for
that week.
·
Consumer
health care choices exercise (250 total points possible): A six-page paper analyzing three different health
care providers, alternative therapies or holistic approaches to health care. This assignment is due by the end of the
week of 5/7/06. This assignment
is described in more detail below.
6... Writing is encouraged by University
policy. The writing requirements for
this course (meeting general education requirements) are 1500 words (six
pages). Grammar and spelling will be
considered in grading assignments. If
you have difficulty writing, the
7. In all work, students must ensure that appropriate credit is given for all
materials. Ideas taken from other
persons must be properly cited. On
papers, any direct quote must be enclosed in quotation marks and must be cited,
using the Hacker Style Guidebook, listed above.
8. Assignments should be of the same quality
that is expected of an employee in a professional position. That means that grammar and spelling will be
considered in grading assignments. It
means that due dates and project specifications are taken seriously.
9. Written papers and weekly discussion board postings
All papers and
discussion board items for this course must comply with the following
requirements:
·
All text, including
quotes, must be double-spaced
·
Do not exceed the
maximum page length for the assignment.
·
Items must be free of
typographical and spelling errors and must be grammatically correct.
·
The final course
paper must conform to the Hacker Style Guide.
10. Discussion
board postings
One of the four assignments for this course
is discussion postings. Each
week, you will need to read all assigned
textbook chapters and online web
articles.
From these readings, you will post responses to various questions
or complete specific assignments on the
appropriate WebCT discussion
section.
Your grades for this section of the course are based upon the
instructor’s assessment of both the QUALITY and QUANTITY of your
individual postings. Short, incomplete or late postings will receive
lower
point totals than longer, more thoughtful,
more complete and timely postings.
Students should expect that the weekly MINIMUM writing requirement will
entail AT LEAST three to six paragraphs (250-500 words) of well developed
responses to the subject(s) for that
week.
Your first week’s writing assignment, based on
the material in the Week
One Discussion
Board, is due to be posted no later than 1/26/06.
Individual postings are developed out of both the assigned reading and
question material presented by the
instructor and the comments and insights
from other students. To develop a coherent and concise posting
after
reading the instructor assigned material,
students should examine existing
responses on the discussion board before
posting their item. Early in the
week, the first student postings on a
particular subject will likely introduce
additional comment areas. Students posting later in the week should
incorporate these additional comment
areas into their responses. The
instructor will prompt comment on these
new areas and open new discussion
threads, as needed.
Each week, the instructor will review all
postings and responses, assign a
point total, and will e-mail the student with
the feedback results. The
“Check Your Grades Here”
section of the WebCT course home page will
track each student’s ongoing grade point
total throughout the semester.
11. Timeliness of readings and postings
Each week, you will need to read the
assigned chapters listed on the course
outline below. You will also need to read and complete the
additional online
readings and posting assignments on the
WebCT discussion page for that
week.
You will have seven days to log in and complete the postings part of
the assignment. The week starts at
“locked-out”
and you will not be able to make additional postings.
Therefore, you cannot wait or delay in this
online course, or you will be
unable to complete major portions of the
work assigned.
12.
Online testing
There are two tests scheduled for this
course. Each is worth up to 250
points each. The dates for the test are on the
syllabus. Tests must be
completed within the seven day window on
the scheduled test week. Further
instructions on the test taking procedures
are provided on the WebCT
course page.
The online tests are based entirely on
the textbook readings. They are
objective in nature (e.g., multiple
choice, true/false questions) and are open
book, open notes.
The
tests are timed (lasting up to two hours) by WebCT. You have
ONE
timed test session during the seven day test period to log in and
complete the test. One can only log on once. You must complete the test all
in one session. You
cannot log off and log in later to finish.
WebCT is
unforgiving
with violations of these few rules, so please understand
them
before the first test.
After
you complete and submit the test, you will receive your score automatically
from WebCT.
Please
read the online test taking instructions on our course homepage BEFORE the first test.
CONSUMER HEALTH CARE CHOICES ANALYSIS
EXERCISE
Use the Hacker Pocket Style Manual to
complete this assignment
Purpose: This exercise will allow students to
critically analyze several alternative approaches to health care increasingly
available to and popular with many consumers.
Students will also be able to explore non-traditional, new or emerging
approaches to health care in the
Assignment: Select THREE DIFFERENT alternative
health care practitioners, alternative therapies, or holistic approaches to
health care available to consumers. For
examples of various alternative approaches to health care, see Chapter 8 in the course
textbook. Once you have selected your consumer choices, write a six page,
double spaced paper (two pages for each of your choices) using
the content guidelines listed below. You
must cite at least three
sources for EACH alternative/complementary therapy selected. For example, if you write on naturopathy as one of your three
selections, you can use the text material, plus information from two
other sources. Therefore, your final
reference list for naturopathy would
have at least three references. You
must have a separate reference list for this paper. It does NOT count in the six-page total.
Content: Your paper MUST include the
following items:
THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST BE COMPLETED AND POSTED IN THE
ASSIGNMENT DROP BOX NO LATER THAN SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2006. LATE OR INCOMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS WILL HAVE A GRADE
POINT DEDUCTION PENALTY IMPOSED.
COURSE OUTLINE
(This outline is subject to
modification by the instructor)
The chapters here refer to the assigned
textbook for this course, Consumer
Health: A Guide to Intelligent Decisions
STUDENTS MUST ALSO VISIT THE WebCT
DISCUSSION PAGES EACH WEEK TO READ ADDITIONAL MATERIAL AND COMPLETE COURSE
POSTINGS
Topic Area: Dynamics of the Health Marketplace
Week of 1/23/06, Week 1
Chapter 1: Consumer Health
Issues
Chapter 2: Separating Fact
from Fiction
Your biographical listing
due in Homepages section
First week’s writing assignment due no later than
1/26/06
Week of 1/30/06, Week 2
Chapter 3: Frauds and
Quackery
Chapter 4: Advertising and
Marketing Practices
Second week’s writing assignment due no later than
2/5/06
Topic Area: Health Care Approaches
Week of 2/6/06, Week 3
Chapter 5: Science-Based
Health Care
Chapter 6: Mental Health
Care
Third
week’s writing assignment due no later than 2/12/06
Week of 2/13/06, Week 4
Chapter 7: Dental Care
Chapter 8: “Alternative”
Methods
Fourth week’s writing assignment due no later than
2/19/06
Note: 2/27/06 is the Last Day to Drop
this Class without a Serious and Compelling Reason
Week of 2/20/06, Week 5
Chapter 9: Self-Care
Chapter 10: Health-Care
Facilities
Fifth week’s writing assignment due no later than
2/26/06
Topic Area: Nutrition and Fitness
Week of 2/27/06, Week 6
Chapter 11: Basic Nutrition
Concepts
Chapter 12: Food Fads,
Fallacies, and Scams
Sixth week’s writing assignment due no later than 3/5/06
Week of 3/6/06, Week 7
Chapter 13: Weight Control
Chapter 14: Exercise
Concepts, Products, and Services
Seventh week’s writing assignment due no later than
3/12/06
WEEK OF 3/13/06, SPRING BREAK-NO CLASS
Week of 3/20/06, Week 8
TEST # 1
Topic Area: Major Health Problems
Week of 3/27/06, Week 9
Chapter 15: Cardiovascular
Disease
Chapter 16: Arthritis and
Related Disorders
Ninth week’s writing assignment due no later than
4/2/06
Week of 4/3/06, Week 10
Chapter 17: Cancer
Chapter 18: HIV/AIDS
Tenth week’s writing assignment due no later than
4/9/06
Topic Area: Other Products and Services
Week of 4/10/06, Week 11
Chapter 19: Drug Products
Eleventh week’s writing assignment due no later than
4/16/06
Week of 4/17/06, Week 12
Chapter 22: Health Devices
Twelfth week’s writing assignment due no later than
4/23/06
Week of 4/24/06, Week 13
Chapter 23: Coping with
Death
Thirteenth week’s writing assignment due no later
than 4/30/06
Topic Area: Protection of the Consumer
Week of 5/1/06, Week 14
Chapter 24: Health Insurance
Chapter 25: Health Care
Economics
Consumer health care choices paper
due this week and must be in the Assignment Drop Box no later than 5/7/06.
Week of 5/8/06, Week 15
Chapter 26: Consumer Laws,
Agencies, and Strategies
Fifteenth week’s writing assignment due no later than
5/14/06
Week of 5/15/06, Week 16
TEST # 2