Slideshow

I'm going to do my slideshow on why preventative care is important. I'm going to talk about diabetes, syphilis, cervical cancer, and testicular cancer.

First, diabetes will be covered because it is very common and many people don't know how bad it can get without the disease being diagnosed and treated. [how to prevent getting it later in life]

Second, cervical cancer is preventable by receiving the gardasil shot (only two types of the virus), which is covered by most insurance and will have to be covered under the ACA. Also yearly pap smears help in finding any irregular cells early on instead of in more advanced stages of the cancer. [the shot also helps prevent to types of genital warts diseases]

Third, syphilis is a treatable bacterial STI. If it goes untreated, syphilis can damage many parts of the body and can lead to mental illness.

Last, testicular cancer



Wellness checks, even if healthy, are worth while. why it's important for these screenings.
Talk about the costs (emotional and monetary) if not found early.

Interview Protocol

I would like to interview John Holahan and Gerald F. Kominski, Ph.D. I would like to ask two different people the same questions, because some of the questions are more opinion based and I would like more than one view point. John Holahan is the Director of the Health Policy Research Center at The Urban Institute. Much of his research has focused on state health policy, including Medicaid and issues of federalism and health. These include analyses of the recent growth in Medicaid expenditures and the implications of block grants and changes in matching formulas on states. He has also published on strategies for Medicaid reform. He has developed proposals for health system reform, most recently in Massachusetts. He has also published research on the reasons for the growth in the uninsured over the past decade and on the effects of proposals to expand health insurance coverage on the number of uninsured and the cost to federal and state governments. Gerald F. Kominski, Ph.D. is a Professor of Health Services in the UCLA School of Public Health. He also serves as Director of Health Economics and Evaluation Research (HEER) Program at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Dr. Kominski teaches classes in research methods, health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, and health policy. His research focuses on evaluating the costs and cost-effectiveness of health care programs and technologies; improving access and health outcomes among ethnic and vulnerable populations; and developing models for forecasting population health. Dr. Kominski received his Ph.D. in public policy analysis from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School in 1985. Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA in 1989, he served as a staff member of the agency now known as the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). He is co-editor of the widely used textbook, Changing the U.S. Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services Policy and Management, which was published in its 3rd edition in 2007. 

This interview is needed, because of a school research project and I would like to gain better knowledge on question that did not have an obvious answer. I would like the view point of a professional personally, instead of just through articles. I will conduct the interview through e-mail contacts or a phone call. So the interview will not be in-person. I hope to learn more in depth complexities about the Affordable Care Act affects the population on a more infrastructural level. The following questions are what I will ask Holahan and Kominski in the interviews. What will happen to young adults whose parents do not have insurance  but are also full-time students? Since so many people will become covered by insurance, how will the health system compensate? Would it be better to go to Urgent Care/Emergency Room or to a family doctor? On the topic of Medicaid expansion, how will the states compensate for the 7% they will have to cover, if they approve the expansion? Is the Affordable Care Act likely to be a long-term revision of the health care system, or is it just a building block to something else? If it is long term, what is the projection for 10 to 30 years from now?

Field Research Questions

 Field Research

• What do I still need to know about my topic to successfully support my main idea?

I could use more information regarding the insurance exchanges.

• Who might be able to offer me that information in an interview?

I'm not certain who would be able to help me obtain more information.

 

• Why would that person be considered an expert in the field?

 

• What 3 questions can I ask this expert to elicit the information I need to support my main idea in the webtext?

1.

2.

3.

 

• What is my next step to accomplish this field research?

 

Midterm

From the beginning of the project, I was uncertain on a topic to choose. Once the topic was decided though, I was able to easily decide on the rest of the rhetorical choices. With the topic of health care for young adults in the United States, I was able to easily decide on different rhetorical aspects. My decisions pertaining to visual aspects, audience, tone, and language all came together to create a webtext that was easy to read, clear, concise, and informative.

When it came to deciding a topic, I was uncertain of what I wanted to look into and research. Many things pertaining to the medical field and social issues do not interest me. When I heard about topics being able to be related to health care, I thought of the ObamaCare issue that is going on in the United States. This topic seemed interesting to me, so I did some research. I was able to find a lot of information on how the Affordable Care Act targeted women needs and preventative care, along with that of young adults. I felt the women’s topic may not be enough for a full project on it, so I choose the young adults.

The choice of target audience was very simple for me. Because my topic centered around one very specific demographic, I was able to easily choose an audience. My audience is those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six. This age range contains those considered “young adults”. Once I had my audience, I was able to easily set the language of the webtext to a very simple word choice with minimal jargon. By the use of this language, I was able to set the tone as informative and easy to understand. I also added personal references and opinions which made the webtext personal and subjective.

When it came to making the visuals of the website, I knew very quickly what I wanted my site to look like. Because my topic centers on the United States, I decided to use red, white, and blue, along with our national flag. This made is very clear to anyone looking at the site that the topic pertained to the United States. The font I used was a very plain font that is clearly legible to anyone. The color choice of the font, dark blue, is very contrasting against the white background, making it even easier to read.

When I choose images to use in the webtext, I decided to go with basic images that were representative of specific parts of my topic. The first image that I used shows President Obama's signature on the Affordable Care Act and the date of when the act was first approved and when it was upheld by the Supreme Court. The second image was a visual representation of Medicare which is a big part of how young adults can gain access to health care in the future. The Medicare expansion was also a huge part of the debate between the States and how they felt about the Affordable Care Act.

In conclusion, once my topic was decided, the rest of the rhetorical choices were very simple for me. 

Podcast Idea

For my podcast, I was thinking about covering the basic care that women will be able to have thanks to Obamacare. These basic coverage will include yearly pap smears; STI, STD, and HIV tests and counseling; insurance coverage for contraceptives and counseling; screening for gestational diabetes; testing for HPV; breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling; and screening and counseling for domestic and interpersonal violence. Thanks to these being necessities insurance providers must cover, women's overall health will increase. Women will be able to get basic aid that they will need along with counseling for any diseases or infections they may have.
For women who become pregnant, they will be able to receive tests for gestational diabetes which can cause issues during pregnancy. After giving birth, women can receive aid for breast feeding. They will receive training on how to best breast feed along with any necessary items.

Annotated Bibliography 2

Kennedy, K. Almost 1M Young Adults Get Health Insurance (2011, Sept. 22).USA Today, 4. Retrieved Sept. 17, 2012, from Academic Search Premier.
Annotation: This article contains many statistics about how many young adults are covered by health insurance thanks to the new Affordable Care Act.

Sommers, B. & Schwartz, K. (2011, Dec 14). 2.5 Million Young Adults Gain Health Insurance Due To The Affordable Care Act. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov (Google Scholar)
Annotation: This is a report from the health and human services department that discusses how different surveys show a direct link between young adults becoming covered by health insurance and the affordable care act.

Crowley, M. (2010, July). Field Notes. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
Annotation: ACA expands eligibility for Medicaid to all legal residents up to 133% of the federal poverty level.

Collins, S. & Nicholson, J. (2010 May). Rite of Passage: Young Adults and the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Retrieved from The Common Wealth Fund (Google Scholar)
Annotation: This article highlights the different ways that the ACA directly impacts young adults and how the ACA will allow them to have coverage. It also covers whether or not young adults are likely to keep up with the mandate that everyone must be covered by health insurance or pay a tax. It also contains lots of statistics .

Images

[Affordable Care Act Approved and Upheld]. 2012, September 17. Retrieved from http://politic365.com/2012/06/28/upheld-affordable-care-act-survives-mandate-is-tax/


Content Analysis: You see the date the ACA was approved and signed by Barack Obama along with when it was upheld by the Supreme Court. The image is about

Annotated Websites

(2012, July 6). Young Adult Coverage. Retrieved from http://www.healthcare.gov/law/ 

Annotation: This article was about how those under the age of 26 and over 18 can remain on their parent's insurance. 

(2008, February 27.) Phenomenal Women, A History of Breast Cancer. Retrieved from http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/029cancer.html

Annotation: This talks about all the different points in history that had turning points in the treatment of breast cancer in women. I will not be using this article, because I have changed my topic.

Topic Definition Statement & Questions

Background for the Issue:

• The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is a new form of health care reform that President Obama created with the intention of providing health care for all and stopping insurance companies from dropping people due to sicknesses.

Purpose:

• The purpose of this research project is to inform about the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect them directly, along with showing different sides to the arguments for and against it.

Questions to be answered:

Key-question:

• How will the ACA affect the people of the United States?

Sub questions:

• Are the requirements that Obamacare has for insurance companies right? 
• How does this affect the states?
• How will it affect the different classes (lower, lower-middle, middle, upper-middle, and upper)? 
• What is it going to cost the nation? 
• Is it truly going to be beneficial? 
• How will this healthcare be paid for/where will the money come from?
• What are the main goals of Obamacare?

Resources needed to answer questions:

• Government documents
• Government websites
• Journal entries
• Books

Research Topic Ideas

1. Preferred topic ideas

• poverty levels in the U.S. (chpt 9)
• unequal wealth distribution
• medical advances in brain or thyroid cancer
• 
  

2. I was unable to really identify any particular chapters that may go along with these topics and would like to discuss this with you after class Wednesday.

3. I did not have time to look over the other material that has been linked to us. I hope to do this after class Wednesday and over the weekend.

Chapters 1-5 Response

My group felt that history, biology, ethics, business, and privacy would be covered in this book.
In chapters 1-5, I have found that history has been covered extensively. We were told about this history of blacks in the United States and how segregated everything was such as different jobs, wages, schools, water fountains and bathroom, wards in hospitals, operating rooms, living conditions, and how they were viewed differently. We also learned some history in the aspect of science. We learned about radium and when it was first found and used for multiple things before anyone knew it was radioactive and  dangerous to humans. We learned about the history of the treatment of cervical cancer as well. Additionally, we were told about the history of culture mediums and how it came to be.
My group thought that ethics would be covered in this book, at least the way different rights were viewed or recognized in the past. This was shown by the fact that Henrietta was not informed of becoming infertile by the procedures or that she was informed of her cells being taken for Gey's experiments. These things would not have occurred to a patient these days, at least the lack of information about her fertility.
Privacy was another topic my group thought would be covered in the book. So far, it has been covered partially in the aspect that Henrietta was not informed of anything and her name was given out to Gey with his attempts to grow cells outside of the human body.
Biology was also covered though not as thoroughly as I had expected.

WELCOME!!!

Welcome to my new blog. I've created this for ENGL 105 as a writing journal.

I hope I remember to do this often enough. =]