Consumer Health:
Sample Course Outline

General Objective

• To enable students to make intelligent decisions about the purchase and use of health products and services.

Specific Objectives

• Refer to Objectives for each chapter.

Content

• Refer to Table of Contents in text.

Required Reading

• Barrett S, Jarvis WT, Kroger M, London WM. Consumer Health, ed. 7. New York, 1997, McGraw-Hill

Requirements

• Regular class attendance
• Active participation in class discussions
• Read Consumer Health text chapters before scheduled class coverage
  • Be familiar with content, be prepared to give opinions, raise questions, and discuss in class
  • Prepare two or more questions related to the assigned chapters for introduction in class when appropriate or when requested by instructor
• Bring to class current magazine and newspaper articles for bulletin board display. Be prepared to briefly (1-2 minutes) present content of one article orally on request. ("What's In The News.")
• Prepare 1-page written reports (see "Description of Assignments") on all of the following:
  • Health insurance policy analysis
  • Qualifications of own physician
  • "Ad" analysis
  • Yearly budget for costs of health products and health services for self and/or family
  • Telephone directory review for community resources available to aid health consumer
• Prepare 3- to 4-page written report and an oral report on a topic identified in "Description of Assignment." Be prepared to orally present paper in class (3-minute maximum).
• Complete midterm and final examinations.

Optional Reports

• Extra credit may be earned upon satisfactory completion of one or two special written reports or by participating on a committee to maintain "What's In The News" bulletin board. See "Description of Assignments" for details.

Due Dates

• Refer to "Assignment Due Dates." Assignments not submitted and/or ready for presentation when scheduled or requested will not be acceptable without special permission from the instructor.

Grades

• All papers will be expected to meet the University standards for grammar and English. Grades will depend on:
  • Accuracy and completeness of requirements
  • Quality of content, organization and clarity of reports
  • Use of properly listed current references,
  • Clarity and organization of oral report.
• Final Grades will be based on:
  • 10%  Discussion participation and questions
  • 20%  Health insurance, physician qualifications, yearly budget, telephone directory, "Ad" analysis, "What's In The News" reports
  • 20%  Three- to four-page report
  • 50%  Examinations

Description of Assignments

Bulletin Board Report

What's in the news

• Bring to class several current newspaper or magazine articles related to consumer health for bulletin board display. Give the materials to one committee member. Be sure to include at the top of each item your name, date of article, volume and issue numbers of magazine, and page numbers. Be prepared to orally present the essential points and to give a brief analysis of the information using guidelines in Chapter 2 of the text.

One-Page Written/Oral Reports

"Ad" analysis

• Use information from Chapter 2 and Table 4-1 of the text to analyze a newspaper or magazine advertisement for a health product. Also answer these questions: Is the information accurate or misleading? Can the product do what the ad claims? Why? Give the sources of evidence. Attach to the advertisement a summary of the analysis.

Physician's qualifications

• Compile information on the qualifications of your own, a family member's or a friend's physician, including schools attended, dates of attendance and graduation, specialties practiced and which are board-certified, and length of experience. Include information from the Directory of Medical Specialists or the American Medical Directory.

Health insurance

• Analyze your own, a family member's, or a friend's health insurance policy using the guidelines in Chapter 24. Include comments about the adequacy of the policy. Identify the company, cost of premiums, and whether this is a group or individual policy. Do not use Medicare or Medicaid coverage.

Yearly budget

• List the health products and health services you anticipate purchasing during the next year. Estimate the expenditures for each together with the total costs expected. Include the cost of health insurance. Determine the percentage of your total yearly income represented by these expenditures.

Telephone directory

• Search the current telephone directory (yellow and white pages) for agencies and organizations that provide assistance to consumers of health products and services. Group these resources according to the chapter headings and the subheadings in the text.

Written/Oral Reports (3-4 pages)

One report is required by each student. Oral presentation (3 minutes maximum) may be requested.

Separating Fact from Fiction

• Prepare a list of the health topics found in three or more editions of one or more of the following: National Enquirer, National Examiner, Prevention, Let's Live, Muscle & Fitness. Group the articles in categories according to those found in the chapter headings in the text. Provide opinions and conclusions about the material. Use scientific references where appropriate to validate comments.
• Evaluate the reliability of consumer information on aWeb site that sells healthj-related products.

Advertising

• Record three or more TV or radio advertisements about health products and/or services. Analyze these ads using the Consumer Analysis of Advertising (Table 5­3). Provide information from reliable sources about validity of claims. Give own opinions and conclusions.
• For three or more newspaper, magazine, or Web site advertisements about health services and/or products, make telephone calls or other inquiries to determine nature, who provides information, and their qualifications, costs, how requests for information are handled, and other related matters. Check validity of information using reliable references. Identify opinions and conclusions.

"Alternative" methods

• For the selected topic in "Student Assignments" prepare a report that includes: (a) essential information through a review of the literature that defines the procedure or approach, its functions, effects, advantages, hazards (if any), and/or problems in usage, costs, and other appropriate related material; and (b) information about the experiences of several users of the method.
• Locate and interview 20 or more people who use "alternative" health care. Tally findings into a representative table where possible. Include the nature of the people (students, laborers, housewives, professionals, etc.) interviewed. List opinions and conclusions.

Basic nutrition

• Keep a food diary for one week and analyze it, using the Food Guide Pyramid system, to see whether it is nutritionaly adequate. If not, indictae what changes can be made to improve it.

Food fads

• Analyze several "health foods" listed in the text with other foods by determining: (a) types and amounts of nutrients, (b) values of nutrients, (c) problems in use, (d) costs, and (e) conclusions from analysis.
• Survey three or more health-food stores to identify in each the five most popular products sold, their costs, whether they contain "natural" ingredients, and information from salespersons regarding the value of these items. Check the literature to determine the validity of claims made for the product as well as other information provided by the salespersons. List the sources of information and your opinions and conclusions.

Weight control

• Visit three or more weight control clinics and/or organizations to obtain information about procedures used for weight reduction, drugs used, costs of service, medical exams given or required and by whom, pressure by contact person to join, and related matters. Include your opinions and conclusions regarding the visitations.
• Visit a drugstore to review five or more products used in weight control and note: ingredients and amounts, costs, and claims of effectiveness. Then check the scientific literature to validate claims and provide conclusions about these products.
• Make before-and-after measurements on someone who has used the services of a body wrapping salon.

Exercise

• Visit three or more health "spas" or clubs to observe and collect information about facilities, equipment, attractiveness, type of people in attendance, friendliness and pressure of contact person, types and values of services, cost of membership, and other appropriate data. Provide comments about impressions, validity of services, and conclusions.
• Analyze three or more exercise equipment items advertised in newspapers or magazines regarding accuracy and validity of claims of effectiveness, benefits and hazards of use, costs, and whether the same effects can be obtained in some other way. Include copies of the advertisements and descriptions of the equipment items.

Drug products

• Visit four or more drugstores or Web sites and record the cost of one product from each of the ten OTC categories (e.g., antacids, analgesics) under Drug Products. Prepare a chart showing the high, low, and average costs of these products. Identify the names and locations of stores visited. List the conclusions to be drawn from this survey.
• Visit a drugstore and select one product from each of 10 categories or 10 products from one category found in the text (e.g., antacids, analgesics) under Drug Products. List the names of the products, the ingredients and amounts found in each, and the claims of the effects by the manufacturer. Review the literature and/or packaging to report on the validity of the claims. List sources of information.

Over-the-counter drug products, skin care, and beauty aids

• Select one product used by yourself, one member of your family or friend, and provide the following information: (a) justification for use, (b) the active ingredients, their amounts, and claims of how they work, (c) benefits and hazards to health, (d) cost-high, low, reasonable (do some comparative shopping), (e) alternatives, substitutes, or other ways to take care of need, and basis for these suggestions, (f) source of information for your or other's decision to use the product, and (g) sources of information used.

Vision and hearing

• Visit three or more hearing aid dealers to gather information about types and quality of aids, how to select, and costs. Provide opinions and conclusions about experiences.
• Visit three or more optometrists to obtain information whether to purchase hard or soft contact lenses. Inquire as to types, advantages/disadvantages, and costs. Provide your opinions and conclusions about your experiences.

Optional Three- to Four-Page Reports

Students may earn extra credit toward grades upon the completion of one or more of the following. Credit will be awarded as follows: A = 3 points, B = 2 points, C = 1 point, D or less = no credit.

Consumer Action

• Take action to assert yourself in some manner about a health product that you feel was poor in quality or misrepresented or a health service in which a bill was unreasonable or in which you were treated improperly or unfairly. Describe the situation or occurrence, the action you took (telephone call, letter, other), the response or outcome (second contact necessary), conclusions from your experience, and actions you will take in the future.

Book Report (3 or 4 pages)

• Select a book from the Bibliography distributed in class or otherwise approved by the instructor and provide: summary of essential points, analysis of text using Guidelines for Determining the Reliability of Health Information (Chapter 2), and comments and conclusions.

What's in the News

• Three students can organize and maintain the bulletin boards on which students post magazine and newspaper articles.
• One additional instructor-approved topic from the Three- to Four-Page Written and Oral Reports.

Internet Project

• Make a PowerPoint demonstration that discusses information on several Web sites.
• Make a Powerpoint demonstration related to searching for reliable health information on the Internet.