Discover how concepts around women’s health are implemented in a real world setting
Health Care Provider/Patient Interview Assignment
- This 3-part assignment is designed to create an awareness of what health services are provided to women in your community and to provide an opportunity to share your knowledge with your instructor and classmates. Objectives:
- Discover how concepts around women’s health are implemented in a real world setting
- Apply what you have learned in the course and through your own research to the real world setting
- Interpret findings from your interview to perform analysis
- Produce a narrative essay analyzing interview data and incorporating research
- Gain an understanding of practical, applied sociology
Download the following documents for task descriptions and grading rubrics.
- There are 3 steps to this assignment:
- Step 1: Conduct an interview with a health care provider (option A) OR a patient (option B). Here are the instructions for finding an appropriate interviewee and conducting the interview (with question template): SOC 424 Interview Assignment – Step 1 Conduct the Interview.pdf
- Step 2: Write a 750 to 1000-word narrative paper (worth 35 points) that synthesizes your interview, 2 course readings, and 2 peer-reviewed articles outside our class that you find on your own. (Due through Safe Assign at the end of Week 6)Here are the paper guidelines and grading rubric: 424 Interview Step 2 Writing the Paper.pdf
- Step 3: Create a PowerPoint presentation to share the main findings and what you learned from your interview paper (worth 20 points) and discuss each other’s presentations with your group (worth 5 points). 424 Step 3 Creating Your Presentation(1).pdf
SOC 424 Interview Assignment – Step 1: Conduct and Interview
You have two options for the assignment (only choose one!): you can interview a health care provider who is centered on women’s health services (Option A) or a woman who has been recently treated in the healthcare system with a health issue (Option B). In order to locate a potential healthcare provider to interview, please see the tips listed here. You will likely need to rely upon your personal relationships for Option B.
Please note that for Option B, treatment for everyday illnesses (e.g. common cold, flu, sore throat, etc.) will not suffice. Ideally, you will interview a woman that has been diagnosed or has recovered from a somewhat serious health issue.
Tips for locating a health care provider (Option A)
1. Do a web search on health care services for women in your local community. Health care services can be focused on mental or physical health. So, for example, a domestic violence shelter would constitute such a place that serves women and a health need. Many times you will be able to find a women’s health care clinic that covers the broad health needs of women.
2. Call or email the clinic to see if you can conduct a brief interview with an administrator or health care provider. You can let them know that you are taking a Women and Health course and that this is a required assignment. You can let them know that broadly, you want to find out about how the organization serves the specific health needs of women. If the clinic you initially contact does not want to participate, please find another organization and try again.
3. Once you have a contact and permission to conduct an interview, set up a time and date to communicate with your interviewee.
4. This will likely take quite a bit of persistence…if you have trouble securing a commitment, then you may need to go back to your search.
Conducting the Interview
Conduct the interview, using the templates below (along with any additional pertinent questions). I understand that an in-person interview many not be possible, so as an alternative, you can conduct interviews via email. (In this instance, you would send the interviewee the list of questions). You may also conduct the interview via telephone.
Email is the least preferable method as you will not have the back and forth conversation that can be so valuable in an interview. Make sure to that if you are emailing an interview template you include
context for your questions! Please make sure to thank the interviewee for his or her time! Also offer to suppress any identifying information.
Interview Template Option A (Health Care Provider)
Please tell me your name and position.
How long have you been in the health care field?
Why didyougetinvolved inthisfield?
Why did you get involved with this organization or this particular women’s health issue?
What type of women do you mainly serve? Do you provide services to women receiving government assistance?
Why is what you do or who your serve important?
Why is there a need for this organization or the work that you do?
Do you feel you have enough resources to best serve this population of women?
What are the best things about the job that you do?
What are the worst things?
How do you connect what you do to the larger issues around women’s health?
If you lived in an ideal world, how would the women you serve be best cared for?
Step 2: Writing up the Interview Paper
Using your notes and answers to your interview questions, prepare a narrative report of 750-‐1000 words (3-‐4 pages) in APA format.
You must incorporate at least two course readings or materials, as well as at least two scholarly peer-‐‐ reviewed journal articles on women and health, related to you interview findings.
Option A
Your paper should include the following sections: Introduction (first one or two paragraphs)
a) Who is your interviewee?
b) How long has she/he been in the field? In women’s health care specifically?
c) Why did she/he get involved in this field and in this organization in particular?
d) What is the organization? Who do they mainly serve? Do they have options for low-‐‐income women
or women without health insurance? Body(several paragraphs)
a) Why is there a need for this type of organization? (or, if you are interviewing an activist, why is there a need to be active in a women’s health cause?)
b) Does the person or organization have enough resources to help women?
c) What re the best things about being involved with the organization and what the organization
offers?
d) What are the areas for improvement?
Conclusion (final one or two paragraphs)
- a) How important is this person or organization?
- b) Could this person or organization serve as a model to serve other aspects of women’s health?
- c) What is the most important thing you learned from this interview and from the research in finding your articles?
- d) d. Did this interview and research inspire you to get involved with some aspect of women’s health?
1
Option B
Your paper should include the following sections: Introduction (first one or two paragraphs)
a. Who is your interviewee?
b. What is her health care issue? At what was she diagnosed or for how long has she lived with the
issue?
c. How did she learn that she had the health care issue?
Body(several paragraphs)
A. How does she feel physically/emotionally regarding the health issue?
B. Does she have a support network and how has her system of support helped her cope with her condition?
C. How has her experience been as far as treatment by the medical establishment?
D. What are some of the obstacles she has faced and how has she overcome these obstacles?
E. In what ways, if any, has she been treated differently by others? Has her race/ethnicity/gender/status/
F. If she lived in an ideal world, how does she think women with her condition would be treated?
Conclusion (final one or two paragraphs)
a. What is the most important thing you learned from this interview and from the research in finding your articles?
b. In what ways do you think the treatment of women with this issue can be improved?
c. Did this interview and research inspire you to get involved with some aspect of women’s health?
Step 3: Creating and Sharing Your Presentation
Create a PowerPoint or PDF presentation between 5-8 slides (plus a title slide and reference slide) that explains and summarizes your narrative interview paper. Find or create at least one image (photo, graph, cartoon, Internet meme, or some other visual depiction) to include so that your presentation is more visually appealing than just text on the page. If you use an image that is not yours (such as one you find online), be sure to cite the source on the reference slide.
A rough outline for your project may look like this:
- A title page with a project title, your name, course, and date not included in the slide count
- Introduction: 1 slide
- Description of your interviewee and how he/she relates to women’s health: 1-2 slides
- Connections of your interview to key research on women’s health: 2 -3 slides
- Conclusion:1–2slides
- Reference page not included in page/slide count (should only need 1 slide) This is only one possible guide for how to develop your analysis. There are many other possibilities that may fit your analysis better, so please use your own creativity and judgment. Post your presentation as a PPT or PDF file on the Interview Presentation discussion forum to share with your group members by the posted deadline. Respond to at least two of your peers’ presentations by the posted deadline.