Christian Kowalski

Context:

One of the most important theories I’ve taken away from my Global Health class was the biosocial approach. This approach to global health is understood that clinical issues and social issues are often intertwined and compounded by one another. Outbreaks of tuberculosis in developing countries for example are the result of poor medical infrastructure along with poverty and other social issues.

 

With the biosocial approach in mind, our professor assigned us to create a country health profile that investigated a public health issue within that theoretical lens. We were tasked with providing an overview of the country, providing an in-depth exploration of the public health issue and then evaluate the solutions of public health officials and scholars to see what strategies were most effective. The topic I chose to explore was food insecurity in Namibia. This decision was based on my passion and involvement with the Periclean program. Through this assignment, I became more informed on the biosocial elements of food insecurity which has given me a more well-rounded view of this issue I’m passionate about.

 

Rhetorical Decisions:

When compiling the research, one important decision was choosing which scholarly articles would be most effective for my final product. The assignment had a few parameters for what could be used for research; they had to be scholarly articles that provided solutions to the topic of food insecurity. Since food insecurity plagues countries all over the world and affects millions of people there is a lot of scholarship on the topic that needed to be sorted out. The goal was to find scholarly articles from African public health officials primarily, so that I could have that perspective in my research. Oftentimes with research on topics like public health, many of the reports are written by Westerners for a western audience. Along with meeting the parameters that the teacher provided, I wanted to include African writers so that their insights and approaches to food insecurity would be accounted for. The synthesis of these articles was necessary to create a balanced project that shared the perspectives of all those involved in combating food insecurity.

 

Part of this desire for inclusivity also meant ensuring to readers that the solutions I was writing about were not my own. I am not a public health major nor do I have much experience in the field. However; through my PWR studies I have been equipped with strong research and critical thinking skills in order to dissect and analyze the solutions provided in the scholarship. Based on this skills, I could read through the scholarship and identify what was effective and what wasn’t. From there, I could synthesize their findings to create an account for what methods were the most effective in combating food insecurity. Despite not having a full scale knowledge of public health nor the credibility to provide my own solutions, I was able to create a research paper that was balanced and highlighted many of the public health narratives surrounding this topic.

 

Reflection:

This assignment really helped improve my analytical skills and forced me to really prioritize what made strong scholarly articles. With the parameters established by the professor, I had to select articles that would cover many of the biosocial elements of food insecurity. From there, I was effectively able to condense that material into an informative and engaging profile. This article functions now as a resource for me as I continue to strive to learn more about Namibia and food insecurity through my Periclean program. The research has instilled confidence in me when discussing these issues with my peers and when collaborating with our partners in Namibia.

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