Social Science Curriculum
On this page: Equal Employment Opportunity
in the Health Professions | Increasing
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Health Care | The
Federal Government's Role in U.S. Health Care
| Equal
Employment Opportunity in the Health Professions |
Goal: To pursue career education.
Objective:
- To engage students in subject areas, noting an
aging workforce (job opportunities) and the importance
of continued education, to become eligible for future
job positions.
What will the students do?
Students will divide into seven teams, with
each responsible for one aspect of unlawful discrimination.
Each team will research their aspect of the law, what
it means, and provide an example. The teams of students
will report their findings, and present their example,
to their classmates. Each team will recommend what
can be done to prevent this type of discrimination.
What will the educators do?
Educators need to prepare and teach about
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and its concepts
including discrimination.
The educator will arrange for an EEO counselor or
officer from a health care facility in the community
to come to the class and teach about what this job
involves, the problems encountered, and some of the
solutions which are available. These solutions include
counseling, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution.
The educator needs to divide the class into seven
teams, to research and present each of the types of
discrimination covered by EEO. The educator also needs
to arrange the oral presentations by the teams of
students to the rest of the class.
What information is available to educators?
What are the activities of the Business/
Adopters?
- Career awareness: Serve as a resource speaker
The adopter should be an EEO counselor or a human
resource professional, who is familiar with how EEO
is applied, at a health care facility in the community.
The adopter would come to the class and teach about
what this job involves, the problems encountered,
and some of the solutions which are available. These
solutions include counseling, mediation, and alternative
dispute resolution.
What methods should the educator use to assess
the effectiveness of this activity?
First, the educator will see if the class
can research the types of discrimination covered by
EEO, think of examples, and present this research
and examples to their class.
From the field of education, four methods of assessment
are recommended, in order of effectiveness for this
activity. They are: performance-based assessment;
oral and written expression; self-assessment; and
collaborative learning.
This activity meets the National Standards for Social
Sciences in studying the United States since World
War II. This activity meets the National Health Care
(Core) Skill Standards for communication, legal responsibility,
ethics, and teamwork.
| Increasing
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Health Care |
Goal: To pursue health career education.
Objectives: to engage students in
subject areas, noting an aging workforce (job opportunities)and
the importance of continued education, to become eligible
for future job positions.
What will the students do?
Students will design and conduct a demographic survey
to determine which racial and ethnic segments of the
population are growing fastest in their community.
Therefore, this program would work best in a larger
metropolitan area with a diverse population.
Focusing on the three fastest growing population
segments, students will be divided into three teams.
Each team will research the beliefs and customs of
one of these populations, with regard to health care.
Then each team will select a health care facility
in their community and determine its current capacity
to treat the health problems of these population segments.
Students will identify where this capacity needs to
be increased, and in what manner. Depending on the
resources of the community, between one and three
health care facilities may be researched.
Each team will report on their findings to the rest
of the class.
What will the educators do?
Educators need to supervise the development
and implementation of this demographic survey. They
will need to contact demographic agencies in their
communities to provide guidance and help.
They will also need to assist the students in identifying
and contacting the health care facilities in their
communities. The purpose of this is to enable the
students to conduct their research.
If the educator is pleased with the results of the
teams’ work, then the educator may wish to arrange
for the findings to be presented to the management
of the health care facilities.
What information is available to educators?
To provide students with a broad understanding
of these demographic issues and trends, the educator
will obtain current data from two national sources;
the State Health Department is another potential source
for data by county.
What are the activities of the Business/
Adopters?
There are two types of Business/Adopters
required in this activity. First, an agency in the
community needs to provide current and projected demographic
information. From the public sector, this would be
the community or county Economic Development Authority.
From the private sector, this would be the Chamber
of Commerce. It would be interesting to obtain demographic
information from both the public and private sectors,
to determine if there is a variance between them.
The activities focus on community involvement, by
providing students with access to one or more health
care facilities. They will allow the students to conduct
a site visit. The purpose of the site visit is for
the students to determine the current capacity of
the health care facility to provide for the three
fastest growing racial and ethnic population segments.
What methods should the educator use to assess
the effectiveness of this activity?
First, the educator will see if the class can determine
which are the three fastest growing racial and ethnic
segments of the population in their community.
Second, the educator will see if the three teams
of students will be able to gain physical or virtual
access to health care facilities in their community;
and determine the current capacity to serve these
population segments, and identify any related problems.
From the field of education, five methods of assessment
are recommended, in order of effectiveness for this
activity. They are: performance-based assessment;
projects; oral and written expression; self-assessment;
and collaborative learning.
| The
Federal Government’s Role In U.S. Health
Care |
Goals: To pursue academic achievement
and health career education.
Objectives:
- To engage students in subject areas, noting an
aging workforce(job opportunities) and the importance
of continued education, to become eligible for future
job positions.
- To develop an awareness of career opportunities
in the health professions and the health care industry
as a whole, while building (the public’s)
confidence in the health care system
- To create individual responsibility by educating
students to the possibilities and entrance requirements
needed to become a health care professional, and
how decisions students make now will influence their
ability to enter into these fields later.
What will the students do?
Students will be assigned to one of two teams:
the Public Health Service Team or the Human Services
Team. Each team will have an equal number of students
assigned to one of the operating divisions within
that team. There are a total of 11 divisions.
For the Public Health Service Team, the operating
divisions are: the National Institutes of Health (NIH);
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the Indian
Health Service (IHS); Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA); Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); and the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
This team will also include the U.S. Public Health
Service Commissioned Corps.
The Human Services Team operating divisions are:
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS);
Administration for Children and Families (ACF); and
the Administration on Aging (AoA).
Students will research their operating divisions.
The research will include what the agency does; its
budget; its number of employees; its programs; what
those programs do; who those programs serve; how they
are organized; and what are the important national
problems that they are designed to prevent or solve.
The members of both teams will meet in a “Departmental
Summit." They will be considered the Department’s
Senior Management. Each division will make a proposal
as to what they plan to accomplish in the next year
for their agency. The other members of the team will
hear the presentation; have the chance to ask questions;
and then be asked to vote to accept, modify, or reject
the plan. If a vote is made for modification, detailed
suggestions will be requested. At the end of the Summit,
the Department’s plan will be ready. A member
of HHS can be invited to the school to receive the
proposed plan.
What will the educators do?
Educators will provide an overview of the
work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS). They will point out that this is the second
largest civilian Federal agency, in terms of the number
of employees. They should emphasize that HHS is, in
the words of former Secretary Tommy Thompson, the
“Department of Compassion." This is an
especially good activity for schools located in metropolitan
areas near HHS headquarters and regional offices:
Washington, D.C.; Boston, MA; New York City, NY; Philadelphia,
PA; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Kansas City, MO; Dallas,
TX; Denver, CO; San Francisco, CA; and Seattle, WA.
Educators will assign the teams. They will schedule
the research, presentations by the adopters, and the
Summit.
Educators will assist the students in identifying
and contacting the HHS staff to assist the students
in their research and in making the presentations.
If the educator is pleased with the results of the
teams’ work, then the educator may wish to arrange
for the plan to be presented to the regional management
staff from HHS.
What information is available to educators?
What are the activities of the Business/
Adopters?
- Academic Enrichment/Career Awareness,: Serve as
a resource speaker
- Student Incentives/Motivation: Serve as a mentor
to the class
- Cultural Enrichment: Sponsor a visit by a Government
health official
The adopters should be employees of HHS. They would
explain what they do in their jobs. Emphasis should
be placed on why they joined HHS, what they do and
the opportunities for future employment with the Federal
government in the health field. For example, in 2006,
the average age of the Federal workforce and the average
age of the baby boomers is 49; approximately half
the Federal workforce in 2002 will be eligible for
retirement by 2006; and half of those eligible, or
25 percent of the Federal workforce, will retire.
So there will be some great opportunities available
by the time today’s high school students are
finishing college and graduate school.
The adopters should serve as coaches to the teams
as they do their research and prepare their presentations.
They should be available to assist the students, in
tandem with the educator, if there are any questions.
Finally, the adopter should be willing to be presented
the plan from the Departmental Summit. Ideally, depending
on the amount of time available, it would be great
if the adopter could actually attend the Summit, to
answer any questions and to provide insight to the
presenters.
What methods should the educator use to assess
the effectiveness of this activity?
First, the educator will see if the students
can perform the research about their assigned HHS
operating division.
Second, the educator will be able to witness the
presentations, and whether the proposed plans are
accepted, modified, or rejected at the Departmental
Summit.
Third, the educator will be able to see the interaction
between the students and the adopter, and how the
Departmental Plan is received at its presentation.
From the field of education, six methods of assessment
are recommended, in order of effectiveness for this
activity. They are: experiments/exhibitions/performances;
collaborative learning; oral and written expression;
performance based assessment; peer review; and rubrics.
This activity meets the National Standards for Social
Sciences in studying the Contemporary United States,
including Civics and Government. This activity meets
the National Health Care (Core) Skill Standards for
academic foundation, communication, systems, and teamwork.
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