COMPETENCIES
7040.7.1 : Compiles Reputable Research
The learner compiles reputable research regarding contemporary trends in healthcare.
7040.7.2 : Evaluates Healthcare Landscape
The learner evaluates the current healthcare landscape for future trends, opportunities, and challenges.
INTRODUCTION
Note: You must submit and pass this task prior to starting Task 2. The work from Task 1 will inform the content of Task 2.
In this assessment, you will complete a comprehensive research task that involves selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing five empirical research articles related to a contemporary healthcare trend. You will assess the credibility of each source using established criteria, identify a trend that emerges from the research, and analyze patterns to generate future-focused insights. You will also evaluate potential sources of bias, explore the impact of the trend on the future of the healthcare industry, and assess relevant innovations. This performance assessment will culminate in a strategic report that integrates these findings into a forward-looking analysis.
Note: All references used should be current, published within the last five years.
REQUIREMENTS
Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGU similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity guidelines are met before submitting the file for evaluation. See for more information.
Grammarly Note:
Professional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students are strongly encouraged to review the Grammarly for Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See for more information.
Microsoft Files Note:
Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product, or pdf, is specified in the task directions. Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected in a pdf file and submitted separately from the main file. For more information, please see .
Note: Review all of the prompts in Tasks 1 and 2 to ensure relevant articles that support all prompts in these tasks are selected.
Synthesizing Healthcare Research to Identify Trends and Patterns
A. Evaluate and synthesize credible healthcare research published in the past five years by doing the following:
1. Summarize five empirical research articles related to a current healthcare trend (e.g., value-based care (VBC), aging well, or personalized medicine).
2. Analyze the reputability of each article described in part A1 using established credibility criteria, including the authors academic background or clinical expertise, the journals impact factor or indexing, peer review evidence (e.g., Ulrichsweb or journal homepage), and relevance to healthcare decision-making (e.g., sample population or intervention).
3. Describe one healthcare trend that emerges from the synthesized findings in the articles described in parts A1 and A2.
a. Explain how the articles support your interpretation of this trend.
b. Describe one potential implication of this trend for improving healthcare delivery, operational outcomes, or workforce performance when implemented in a real-world context.
4. Analyze one recurring pattern found across the selected research articles (e.g., intervention outcomes, demographic trends, disparities in care), including in-text citations from the information in the research articles.
5. Explain one possible research question or area for future exploration that could emerge from the pattern identified in part A4, including how recognizing such patterns can support informed decision-making.
Analyzing Potential Biases, Innovations, and Future Impacts
B. Evaluate potential biases, innovations, and future impacts related to the trend described in part A3 by doing the following:
1. Explain three potential sources of bias that could influence the interpretation of the trend described in part A3. Include the following:
a. Explain how each of the three sources of bias might affect the analysis and application of healthcare research and practice.
b. Describe one strategy to mitigate the impact of each of the three biases and support objective decision-making.
2. Analyze how the trend described in part A3 could impact the future of the healthcare industry, including both potential benefits and challenges. Include the following:
a. Describe two current healthcare innovations related to this trend.
b. Evaluate each innovation based on research support, sustainability, and its potential to meet future healthcare needs.
C. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
D. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
File Restrictions
File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these symbols: ! – _ . * ‘ ( )
File size limit: 200 MB
File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, csv, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z
RUBRIC
A1:
NOT EVIDENT
A summary of empirical research articles is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The summary addresses fewer than 5 empirical research articles, the description of 1 or more articles is not thorough, or 1 or more articles are not related to a current healthcare trend.
COMPETENT
The summary of 5 empirical research articles is thorough, and each article is related to a current healthcare trend.
A2:
NOT EVIDENT
An analysis of the reputability of each article described in part A1 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The analysis of the reputability of each article described in part A1 is not logical or well-supported. Or it does not clearly demonstrate the use of any of the established credibility criteria (the authors academic background or clinical expertise, the journals impact factor or indexing, or peer review evidence) for 1 or more of the research articles. Or the analysis does not appropriately address the relevance to healthcare decision-making.
COMPETENT
The analysis of the reputability of each article described in part A1 is logical and well-supported. It clearly demonstrates the use of established credibility criteria by including the authors academic background or clinical expertise, the journals impact factor or indexing, and peer review evidence, and it appropriately addresses the relevance to healthcare decision-making.
A3:
NOT EVIDENT
A description of a healthcare trend in the empirical research articles from parts A1 and A2 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The description of a healthcare trend emerging from findings in the research articles from parts A1 and A2 is not thorough or clear.
COMPETENT
The description of a healthcare trend emerging from the findings in the empirical research articles from parts A1 and A2 is thorough and clear.
A3A:
NOT EVIDENT
An explanation of how the trend is supported by the findings in the empirical research articles from parts A1 and A2 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The explanation of how the trend is supported by the findings in the empirical research articles from parts A1 and A2 is not specific or does not clearly connect to the findings.
COMPETENT
The explanation of how the trend is supported by the findings in the empirical research articles from parts A1 and A2 is specific and clearly connected to the findings.
A3B:
NOT EVIDENT
A description of an implication of the trend identified in part A3 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The description of the implication of the trend identified in part A3 is not specific, not clearly related to improving healthcare delivery, operational outcomes, or workforce performance, or is not supported by the trend identified in part A3.
COMPETENT
The description of the implication of the trend identified in part A3 is specific, clearly related to improving healthcare delivery, operational outcomes, or workforce performance, and supported by the trend identified in part A3.
A4:
NOT EVIDENT
An analysis of a recurring pattern found in the empirical research articles described in part A1 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The analysis of the recurring pattern found in the empirical research articles described in part A1 is not specific, lacks a clear connection to the findings in the articles, or is inadequately supported by in-text citations.
COMPETENT
The analysis of the recurring pattern found in the empirical research articles described in part A1 is thorough, clearly connected to the findings in the articles, and well supported with in-text citations.
A5:
NOT EVIDENT
An explanation of a possible research question or area for future exploration is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The explanation of a possible research question or area for future exploration based on the pattern identified in part A4 is not clear or does not directly connect to the pattern identified in part A4, or the explanation of how the pattern supports informed decision-making is underdeveloped.
COMPETENT
The explanation of a possible research question or area for future exploration based on the pattern identified in part A4 is clear and directly connected to the pattern identified in part A4, and the explanation of how the pattern supports informed decision-making is well developed.
B1:
NOT EVIDENT
An explanation of 3 potential sources of bias that could influence the interpretation of the trend described in part A3 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The explanation of potential sources of bias that could influence the interpretation of the trend described in part A3 is not specific, logical, or clear, or addresses fewer than 3 sources.
COMPETENT
The explanation of 3 potential sources of bias that could influence the interpretation of the trend described in part A3 is thorough, logical, clear, and addresses all three sources.
B1A:
NOT EVIDENT
An explanation of how the 3 sources of bias identified in part B1 might affect the analysis and application of healthcare research and practice is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The explanation of how the sources of bias addressed in part B1 might affect the analysis and application of healthcare research and practice is not specific, addresses fewer than 3 sources of bias identified in part B1, or provides only general statements without clear connections to healthcare research and practice.
COMPETENT
The explanation of how the sources of bias addressed in part B1 might affect the analysis and application of healthcare research and practice is specific, is logical, addresses all 3 sources of bias identified in part B1, and is clearly connected to healthcare research and practice.
B1B:
NOT EVIDENT
A description of a strategy to mitigate the impact of biases addressed in part B1 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The description of 1 strategy for mitigating the impact of eachof the 3 identified biases addressed in part B1 is not specific, clear, relevant, or appropriate, or does not support objective decision-making.
COMPETENT
The description of a strategy for each of the three identified biases addressed in part B1 is specific, clear, relevant, appropriate, and supports objective decision-making.
B2:
NOT EVIDENT
An analysis of how the trend described in part A3 could impact the future of the healthcare industry is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The analysis of how the trend described in part A3 could impact the future of the healthcare industry is not specific, omits key factors, or does not address benefits and challenges.
COMPETENT
The analysis of how the trend described in part A3 could impact the future of the healthcare industry is specific and addresses key factors, benefits, and challenges.
B2A:
NOT EVIDENT
A description of current healthcare innovations related to the trend described in part A3 is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The description of healthcare innovations related to the trend described in part A3 is not specific, addresses fewer than 2 innovations, or does not clearly relate the innovation to the trend.
COMPETENT
The description of 2 current healthcare innovations is specific and clearly related to the trend described in part A3.
B2B:
NOT EVIDENT
An evaluation of innovations described in part B2a is not provided.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The evaluation of innovations described in part B2a is not specific, logical, or clear, evaluates fewer than 2 innovations, or does not address 1 or more of the required criteria (i.e., research support, sustainability, or potential to meet future healthcare needs).
COMPETENT
The evaluation of 2 innovations described in part B2a is specific, logical, and clear, and addresses research support, sustainability, and potential to meet future healthcare needs.
C:
NOT EVIDENT
The submission does not include both in-text citations and a reference list for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
The submission includes in-text citations for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list; however, the citations or reference list is incomplete or inaccurate.
COMPETENT
The submission includes in-text citations for sources that are properly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list that accurately identifies the author, date, title, and source location as available.
D:
NOT EVIDENT
This submission includes pervasive errors in professional communication related to grammar, sentence fluency, contextual spelling, or punctuation, negatively impacting the professional quality and clarity of the writing. Specific errors have been identified by Grammarly for Education under the Correctness category.
APPROACHING COMPETENCE
This submission includes substantial errors in professional communication related to grammar, sentence fluency, contextual spelling, and/or punctuation. Specific errors have been identified by Grammarly for Education under the Correctness category.
COMPETENT
This submission includes satisfactory use of grammar, sentence fluency, contextual spelling, and punctuation, which promote accurate interpretation and understanding.