HBS108 Assignment Task 1: Sourcing, Identifying and Evaluating Evidence 800 words, 20% of total assessment, due Sunday 25 November 2018 by 11:59 PM This assignment draws on Topics 1, 2, and 3. It requires you to access and understand health-related data and information from reputable, widely used sources of health information in the form of: Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Research findings from peer-reviewed academic journals accessed through the Deakin University Library Topics 1, 2, and 3 (and especially the tutorial activities associated with each topic) will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to successfully complete this assignment. Please note that links to the online reports and articles are deliberately not provided in this assignment because one of the skills of a health professional (taught in this unit) is being able to locate health data and information online. Note: You may reference the topic content PDFs for this assignment but not the lecture notes (in which case you may wish to find other sources). When you refer to specific data or information from an external source (e.g., ABS survey data, journal articles, or HBS108 topic content PDFs) you must reference them (in-text and, where appropriate, in a reference list at the end of the assignment) according to the DeakinHarvard referencing style. The word count for this assignment is tightit will help you develop valuable skills in writing briefly and to-the-point. Do NOT repeat the questions in your assignmentthe words will be included in your word count. It is acceptable, where appropriate, to provide brief answers in a few words (i.e., not a complete sentence)if you do this you must include the question number, e.g., Q. 1(iii) Qualitative study. Be assured that it is possible to get 100% for this assignment within the word count. Introduction Adequate fruit and vegetable intake is associated with multiple health benefits, as reflected in a step-wise reduction in all-cause mortality for each additional daily serve of fruit and vegetables (Schwingshackl et al. 2017). However, in Australia, high proportions of the population fail to meet recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption, thereby contributing to elevated risks of a range of chronic diseases. The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends that people consume a minimum of two serves of fruits and five serves of vegetables each day (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013). However, in 201415, slightly less than half (49.8%) of Australians aged 18 years and over met the guidelines for recommended daily serves of fruit (2 or more serves), and only 7.0% met the HBS108 Assignment Task I Page 2 of 9 guidelines for serves of vegetables (56 or more serves for men depending on age, and 5 or more for women). Only one in twenty (5.1%) adults met both guidelines. There are substantial variations by age and gender (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015). This assignment requires you to access and understand health-related data from reputable, widelyused (by health professionals) sources of information in order to (a) document fruit and vegetable intake among Australian adults, and (b) access and interpret related research that can assist in understanding reasons for low fruit and vegetable, and provide guidance for action to improve fruit and vegetable consumption. These findings are important for planning interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable intake and reducing the risk of chronic diseases associated with low fruit and vegetable consumption. TASK ALocating and understanding health data and information from reputable sources In Task A you are required to summarise current levels of fruit and vegetable consumption among Australian adults (aged 18 year and over) and identify any differences in fruit and vegetable intake based on age and gender. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Australian Health Survey includes data on Daily intake of fruit and vegetables in the Australian adult population. You are required to locate data from this survey from the ABS website. ABS health survey data is available in the form of (i) very brief summaries of selected findings from the survey; and (ii) detailed downloadable data tables (as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets). Please go to the ABS website, and: Locate the report: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015, National Health Survey, First results, 2014-15. Cat No. 4364.0.55.001 Under Data Cubes, download Table 12: Daily intake of fruit and vegetablesAustralia. This is available as a Microsoft Excel file from the Downloads tab (red circle in Screenshot 1) Click on the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet option, which will load Table 12 as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (Screenshot 2) Question 1Describing levels of fruit and vegetable intake in Australian adults i. When conducting quantitative health research, it is important to clearly define the study variables being measured. In the Australian Health Survey, how was Whether fruit and vegetable intake met recommended guidelines defined for men and women aged 1950 years? See Table 12, where footnote (g) refers you to the Glossary. The Glossary can be found under Explanatory Notes in Screenshot 3. Make sure you scroll down the Glossary to get the full details. (4 marks) ii. Based on the results of the survey (in Table 12.3), are men or women more likely to meet the recommended guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake? Include the percentages for total males and total females to support your answer. Is the low proportion of Australian adults who meet recommended guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake attributable more to low fruit intake or low vegetable intake? Include the data for all persons aged 18 years and over to support your answer. (4 marks) iii. Based on the results of the survey (in Table 12.3), describe the trend across age groups (for all persons, which includes males and females, within the age range 1824 to 75 years and over) for meeting adequate fruit intake recommendations. Please include at least two of the percentages (e.g., from x% to y%) in your answer for full marks. (4 marks) HBS108 Assignment Task I Page 4 of 9 iv. Suppose you are the Health Promotion Policy Officer for the Australian Department of Health and have been given the task of advising the Government on interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable intake among Australians who are less likely to meet recommended guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake. Based on your answers to Questions 1(ii)-1(iii), which Australian adults and which food type (i.e., fruit or vegetables) would you recommend focussing on? There is no need to include the data in this question. (6 marks) Question 2Understanding gender and age differences in fruit and vegetable intake among adult Australians Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, locate the journal article cited below through the Deakin Library website and read the article carefully before answering Questions 2(i)-(iv). Chapman, K, Havill, M, Watson, WL, Wellard, L, Hughes, C, Bauman, A & Allman-Farinelli, M 2016, Time to address continued poor vegetable intake in Australia for prevention of chronic disease, Appetite, vol. 107, pp. 295302. i. State if this article represents a quantitative research study or a qualitative research study. Briefly describe how you know this particular study is qualitative or quantitative. (4 marks) ii. Identification of barriers: a. Based on the study results, what was the main barrier to adequate vegetable consumption for those who reported eating less than five servings of vegetables each day? b. What was the main barrier to adequate fruit consumption for those who reported eating less than two servings of fruit each day? c. Was cost reported to be more of a barrier for fruit consumption or vegetable consumption? (6 marks) iii. In the Discussion section, the authors referred to two reasons for focussing more on increasing vegetable consumption than increasing fruit consumption. What were they? (4 marks) iv. In the Discussion section, the authors stated that …the results of this study illustrate that educational campaigns to improve knowledge of recommended intake are still required. In light of the many influences on fruit and vegetable consumption, what findings from this study indicate that educational campaigns are still required? Briefly describe two reasons. Hint: You will need to read the text in the Results and Discussion sections as well as the tables to answer this question. (4 marks) Question 3Exploring possible reasons for low fruit and vegetable consumption among adults Use the skills you developed in Topic 2 to locate the journal article cited below through the Deakin library website and read the article carefully before answering Questions 3(i)-(v). Rooney, C, McKinley, MC, Appleton, KM, Young, IS, McGrath, , Draffin, CR, Hamill, LL & Woodside, JV 2017, How much is 5-a-day? A qualitative investigation into consumer understanding of fruit and vegetable intake guidelines, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 30, pp. 105113. i. Obtaining informed consent (after providing potential study participants with a plain language statement describing the research study) is one of the key ethical considerations discussed in Topic 1. The authors state that The study was approved by the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences research ethics committee of Queens University Belfast, and participants provided their written informed consent. What are the four ethical principles for conducting health research as described in Topic 1? Which one of these four principles does written consent most closely address? (4 marks) ii. The study included a (quantitative) questionnaire as well as qualitative focus group discussions. Frequently, qualitative data can help us understand in more depth and detail the findings from quantitative questionnaires. In the section Questionnaire results, it was reported that The median knowledge score for this task (., knowledge of fruit and vegetable guidelines) was %. Knowledge was also a key theme in the analysis of the focus group discussions data. Using the results described under the heading Knowledge, and also the quotations in Table 2, briefly describe six elements of misunderstanding of fruit and vegetable guidelines that help explain the low knowledge score. (12 marks) iii. Under the theme Education, it was reported that On the whole, participants agreed that having more information on what constitutes a portion of FV would impact positively on their current FV consumption. However, providing this information might be complicated by differing views from the study participants about how best to improve understanding of the 5 a day message and how to assess portion size. Very briefly describe the differing options provided by study participants for improving their ability to assess portion size as a way of helping them to consume 5 a day. (6 marks) iv. Some study participants also discussed the limitations of education and information for improving fruit and vegetable consumption. Briefly describe two of these limitations. (4 marks) v. This qualitative study also provides insights relevant for the quantitative measurement of fruit and vegetable intake (., in quantitative surveys). Based on the study findings, briefly describe one way in which fruit and vegetable intake might be over-estimated by survey respondents, and one way in which fruit and vegetable intake might be under-estimated. (4 marks) TASK BResearch hypothesis/questions Question 4Research hypotheses and research questions addressing the topic of fruit and vegetable consumption i. ii. Develop a qualitative research question relating to the topic of how to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among adults. (4 marks) Hints for answering Questions 4(i) and 4(ii): Stating a research hypothesis in the form of a question does not necessarily mean that it is actually a qualitative research question. A qualitative research question is one that can be answered using qualitative study designs and methods rather than quantitative study designs and methods. The Topic 1 content, especially the seminar session, will assist with understanding the difference between quantitative research hypotheses and studies, and qualitative research questions and studies. TASK CSearching databases Question 5Locating a peer-reviewed journal article on a specific topic Select either the research hypothesis or research question you developed in Task B (Question 4). You must clearly state which one you have selected to use for Question 5 otherwise marks will be lost in this section. Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, access the Deakin College e-resources (through the Deakin Library website) and conduct a search for a journal article that is relevant to your research question or hypothesis. The article must be: An academic journal article Peer-reviewed Published within the past 10 years Qualitative in nature if it is addressing the research question OR quantitative in nature if it is addressing the research hypothesis Appropriate to the research hypothesis or research question To receive any marks for this question you must paste the abstract of the article into your assignment as an appendix. Note that the abstract is NOT included in the word count for this assignment neither is its effect on your TurnItIn score. i. Name the database(s) you searched in order to find the article (remember that EBSCOHost is not itself a database, but rather, a platform that enables access to multiple databases). (2 marks) ii. Specify the search terms you used to successfully locate the article. (2 marks) HBS108 Assignment Task I Page 7 of 9 iii. Provide a full reference to this article (in Deakin-Harvard style) here as your answer to this question. (4 marks) iv. Based on the research findings from the article you located, together with the study findings from Chapman et al. (2016) and/or Rooney et al. (2017) [Questions 2 and 3], write a brief recommendation suggesting four strategies, interventions or programs that could be used to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. These approaches should be things that could be done, rather than just a recommendation about who to target. Keep in mind that the purpose of this question is to use research findings to inform practice. For full marks you should include at least two approaches based on findings from Chapman et al. (2016) and/or Rooney et al. (2017) [Questions 2 and 3]. You should also provide in-text citations for the journal articles that your four recommended approaches came from. (8 marks) Presentation and referencing: Please follow the guidelines outlined on page 8. (10 marks)
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