Assessment Guidelines
Identify one Sustainable Development Goal impacting a named low-income country and carry out a systematic review of the literature pertaining to this to identify a gap in knowledge around a specific area of public health practice. In discussions reflect on the nature and scale of the issue and the likelihood that the chosen goal will be met by the target date of 2030. In doing so, engage with the key issues that are hampering progress and make recommendations for how these issues might be better addressed by the global community.
Learning outcomes assessed in this assessment
1. Using a wide range of sources analyse key public health issues affecting the world, with specific reference to the current and future challenges faced by a lowincome country.
2. Critically evaluate outcomes and theoretical positions in relation to global health issues.
3. Understand and critically appraise the WHO’s Sustainable Development Goals and their global implications.
4. Demonstrate an awareness and sensitivity in relation to the interaction and interdependency of global and local health issues, and the role of globalisation.
The Sustainable Development Goals are available to view at this website link - https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Your work should include and cover the following sections/aspects and content (as shown and stated in the table below). The specific percentage marks allocated to each section/aspect of your work is stated below.
Please remember that achievement and demonstration of learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are being assessed in this assessment.
Section/aspect Content to cover Marks
available
Abstract A brief but concise piece of text (200-300 words) outlining the aim and scope of the work, the methodology/methods used, the main results/findings and the conclusions drawn. 5 marks
1
Introduction Clearly set the theoretical or empirical background to the topic/issue to be focused on in this systematic literature review by covering the following aspects:
- Identify and focus on one Sustainable Development Goal which is impacting on a particular named lowincome country. When choosing and deciding on the particular Sustainable Development Goal, please ensure there is alignment to public health and a specific area of public health practice. It is important to remember and be aware that for some Sustainable Development Goals, they are very wide ranging in topic/focus so you may need to focus on a particular topic/issue that is part of the goal. These aspects combined will be the topic of focus/issue in this systematic literature review. Please be clear on the particular Sustainable Development Goal, the particular named low-income country and the aligned specific area of public health practice.
- Provide evidence to demonstrate the nature and scale of this topic/issue and how it impacts on public health. Background literature needs to be included here.
- State the scope (purpose) of this systematic literature review.
- Clearly and precisely formulate and state the research question (which takes into account and reflects the identified Sustainable
Development Goal, the named low-income country and the specific area of public health practice) - this will be the question that needs to be answered by performing the systematic literature review.
A rationale for formulating the research question should be provided here based on the background literature. Please demonstrate here how your research question was developed through the use of an acronym
(for example, PICO, FINER, PICOS, PICOT, PEO etc.).
- State the aim(s) and objectives of this systematic literature review. 15
Marks
Methodology / Methods A detailed description should be provided in this section of the methodology/methods that was/were used to undertake the systematic literature review and answer the research question (it is advisable to also include a schematic representation in this section of the methodology/methods followed which includes the process followed in order to decide on the final number of studies selected for inclusion (this could be in the form of a ‘flow diagram’ or ‘flow chart’ similar to/adapted from the PRISMA flow diagram). Please note – if included, this schematic representation must be included in the word count.
This section will require the inclusion of:
(1) Search strategy followed including:
(i) databases and on-line platforms used to identify the literature (i.e., studies), (ii)
keywords, phrases and Boolean commands used and (iii) inclusion and exclusion criteria applied during the screening process in order to determine the studies included.
(2) Method of critical appraisal followed for studies selected for inclusion including the critical appraisal tools used (for example, CASP etc.).
(3) Type of analysis (and synthesis) performed (including how it was undertaken) on the studies selected for inclusion in relation to their findings (for example, through a method such as narrative synthesis, thematic analysis etc. depending on what method was most appropriate to use).
If you used a data extraction/data summary table (which is advisable) to record key information for each study selected for inclusion (including the main findings of each study), please make it clear, where appropriate, in this section that one was developed and used but actually include it in the ‘Findings/Results’ section. 20 marks
Findings / Results This section should include the following:
- Synthesis and presentation of the
findings/evidence gathered from the studies selected for inclusion which focuses on the findings of these studies (for example, in the form of narrative synthesis, themes that have been developed through thematic analysis etc., depending on what was decided as the most appropriate method to use).
Critical appraisal of the studies selected for inclusion. This will involve appraising the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the studies included with a particular focus on their findings. The critical appraisal Of the findings should consider whether the study design was relevant to the aim and whether the methodology used for data collection and analysis was appropriate to answer each study’s research question.
- The use and inclusion of a data extraction/data summary table is advisable to include here in this section (which includes key information of each study selected for inclusion such as author and date, title of the study, aims, study design, methods, main findings and also includes a column in it demonstrating the critical appraisal undertaken (strengths and weaknesses) of each study selected for inclusion and specifies the critical appraisal tool used to critically appraise each study selected for inclusion). Please note – if included, this table must be included in the word count. 20 marks
Discussion This section should be focused on a critical discussion involving interpretation of the key findings, their implications and key recommendations and should therefore include the following:
(1) Summary of the findings (be careful that you only
‘summarise’ the findings here) and follow this with a discussion of the findings. Then provide some acknowledgement of the strengths and limitations of the systematic literature review undertaken.
Important - The gap in knowledge arising from this systematic literature review undertaken in relation to the specific area of public health practice (and affiliated to the
relevant Sustainable Development Goal that is impacting on the named lowincome country) focused on, needs to be identified and made clear here in this section as this is key for the assessment in the next module - module UPGPBHM09.
(2) Implications arising from the systematic literature review with critical consideration of:
a. How do any identified local health issues/challenges in the named low-income country and public health practices influence global health issues (also taking into account the role of globalisation) and what is the likelihood that the chosen Sustainable Development Goal will be met by the target date of 2030?
b. What are the key issues hampering progress (with relevance to the named lowincome country) in meeting the target date of 2030 for this chosen Sustainable Development Goal?
c. Reflecting critically on the chosen Sustainable Development Goal and other Sustainable Development Goals and their targets, how do these influence global health and public health practice?
(3) Recommendations need to be provided in this section for how the issues that are hampering progress (with relevance to the named lowincome country) with the chosen Sustainable
Development Goal being met by 2030 might be better 25 Marks
addressed by the global community.
Conclusion Effective summary of key points.
This section should include a complete summary of the main findings, observations, assertions and conclusions generated from the systematic literature review undertaken and presented in the previous sections of the assignment. 5 Marks
Presentation and
Referencing High quality presentation that conforms to principles of academic writing and contains minimal errors in sentence
construction, grammar and punctuation. The assignment followed appropriate academic conventions regarding intext citations and referencing. 10 Marks