Following up on your reflection on interests and goals for DQ 1, think about the immediate and long-term public health issues and concerns related to your interests and goals. Choose a public health topic. Public health issues or topics can be creative. Take into consideration social values, cultural factors, community impact, need, context, and implications. Create a table comparing your topic choice with each of the four capstone options. Discuss why you are choosing your topic and provide supporting details to explain how your capstone option addresses the topic.
A Capstone Guide is provided for each of the four options, providing instructions and criteria for completing the capstone project for that option, schedule for submission of project deliverables, and rubrics for grading each of the project deliverables. Be sure to review all of the Capstone Guides prior to deciding which one to employ for your capstone project to ensure the project option selected best suits the health issue and your professional interests and goals:
“PUB-690 Capstone Guide: Option 1 – Grant Proposal”
“PUB-690 Capstone Guide: Option 2 – Policy Analysis”
“PUB-690 Capstone Guide: Option 3 – Secondary Data Analysis”
“PUB-690 Capstone Guide: Option 4 – Program Evaluation”
Note: You will continue to refer to the Capstone Guide for your chosen option throughout the course.
HERE IS MY DQ1: Two of my professional interests and goals are inclined more towards the healthcare aspects of nutrition and dietetics and healthy lifestyles and educational programs. Nutrition and dietetics are particularly interesting to me as a discipline and occupation because it concerns itself with healthy life choices while also advancing my career experiences. If the world paid more attention to nutrition and dietetics, most people would be able to ward off the possibility of lifestyle disease; prevalence would forever be at an all-time low (Hosker et al., 2019). Getting professional insights on the subject through training will help me achieve utilitarian ends, i.e., I will seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number by assisting people to eat right. Besides, I will also have to practice whatever messages I preach.
Healthy lifestyle and educational programs interest me on a professional level because knowledge in them could help me create a lot of awareness. I like to show people that healthy living, wellness, and awareness are within people’s scope if they choose to take things into their own hands. It appalls me that healthy eating could help the human race reduce infections and comorbidities by 50% (Hosker et al., 2019). As such, it is upon everyone to take a hands-on approach to their lives, and this way, hospital triage rooms will not have the many cases of lifestyle diseases like it has today. Significantly, I also consider myself a healthcare influencer, positively impacting my society on educational programs aimed at nutrition and dietetics. As such, one short-term goal would be to offer vocational training on nutrition and dietetics. Having acquired the knowledge and skills in the public health program, I can, therefore, proceed independently to provide professional insights on healthy living.
A closer look will demonstrate that my professional interests are close-knit. Proper nutrition and dietetics can be classified under a larger umbrella of healthy lifestyles and educational programs. My long term goals with my professional interests resonate with setting up a private practice after working in the public sector for two decades. After 20 years of acquiring the needed skill and values, I am looking to set up walk-in nutrition and dietetics stores where customers can purchase healthy foods and attend a separate section where they can be advised and treated (Hosker et al., 2019). A major strength I have that will ensure I achieve my long-term goal is I always have a hands-on approach in my healthcare journey. Additionally, I am looking to set up gyms and spas where people can do yoga and an assortment of sports. Clients will also get lessons on health and wellness. Overall, my professional interest and goal are to make a positive difference.
Reference
Hosker, D. K., Elkins, R. M., & Potter, M. P. (2019). Promoting mental health and wellness in youth through physical activity, nutrition, and sleep. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 28(2), 171-193.
