Overview of Assignment: The “Healthy Communities” movement values environmental health as one of the necessities for overall well-being: Parks, clean air, safe drinking water, and healthy food are among the basic rights that also include affordable housing, quality education, safe and secure employment at a livable wage, and accessible public transportation. Despite many of the environmentally responsible policies attributed to the Environmental Justice Movement, many communities of color still experience a disproportionate burden of ill health from environmental or occupational hazards. Many neighborhoods and communities are the dumping grounds for environmental toxins and hazards. Furthermore, select groups of workers are at increased risk of illness due to occupational exposures.
For this assignment, you will conduct a literature review and identify a community of color or low-income community that is disproportionately exposed to an environmental or occupational hazard.
For this semester, you may not select the Flint Community (and its water crisis), California agricultural workers (and pesticide exposure), West Oakland (and its air pollution exposure), Los Angeles (and its air pollution exposure), or Cancer Alley, Louisiana (and its air pollution exposure) as your research paper topic.
Based on your literature review, you will write a paper that discusses the following themes and topics:
- Description of the community at risk
- Health statistics
- Influencing environmental and social factors
- Recommendations
Length: 6-7 pages (not including title and reference pages) Page limit strictly enforced!
Format: The assignment should be prepared and formatted according to the APA style guide for writing papers and citing references (7th edition), including:
- A title page.
- Page numbers in the upper right hand corner.
- Spacing, margins, and fonts: Double-spaced with 1” margins. Use 12-point Times New Roman font only.
- Use of headings and subheadings to help organize the paper.
- Correct and consistent use of in-text citations.
- No directly quoted material. Paraphrase ideas from references.
- Reference list.
- Turnitin tool will be utilized. All research papers are expected to be original scholarly work that are organized and well written. Details in rubric.
- An Abstract is not required for this assignment.
Helpful online resources for APA 7th Edition include:
- APA Style and Grammar Guidelines – https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines
- SJSU APA Formatting Guidelines – https://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/docs/handouts/APA%20Formatting%20Guidelines-7th%20Edition-Final.pdf
- SJSU APA Citation Guide – https://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/docs/handouts/APA%20Citation%20Guide-7th%20Edition-Final.pdf
References: You must use a minimum of three relevant peer-reviewed articles in addition to information and data from other sources such as government reports and websites (see the PH 172 LibGuide for other good sources of information). Use American Psychological Association (APA, 7thedition) style for all references.