| Course | HEP 386 Assessing Strengths and Needs for Health Education and Promotion |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Initial rationale |
| Length | About 419 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | BS in Health Education and Health Promotion |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HEP 386 Module 1
Why Food Insecurity in Yuma County? An Initial Rationale for a Community Assessment
Student Name
BS in Health Education and Health Promotion, Arizona State University
HEP 386: Assessing Strengths and Needs for Health Education and Promotion
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Why Food Insecurity in Yuma County? An Initial Rationale for a Community Assessment
The Priority Health Concern
A household is food insecure when it cannot count on having enough to eat for an active life in good health. My priority health concern is food insecurity among adults in Yuma County, the county where I grew up.
How Common It Is
The USDA's 2023 survey counted 13.5% of U.S. households as food insecure during the year (Rabbitt et al., 2024). In Yuma County, modeled estimates from the CDC's PLACES project put adult food insecurity in the past year at 24.4%, compared with 15.2% in Maricopa County (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2025). Yuma's estimate is among the highest in Arizona.
Source: CDC, 2025.
| Yuma County adults, 2023 | Estimate | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity in the past 12 months | 24.4% | 20.2 to 29.0 |
| Received SNAP benefits in the past 12 months | 17.4% | 14.2 to 21.1 |
| Housing insecurity in the past 12 months | 18.3% | 15.2 to 21.6 |
| Lack of reliable transportation | 11.5% | 9.8 to 13.5 |
| Diagnosed diabetes | 14.5% | 12.6 to 16.5 |
| Obesity | 37.4% | 31.9 to 43.2 |
Why It Matters for Health
Food insecurity is consistently linked with poorer health in children, working-age adults and older adults (Gundersen & Ziliak, 2015). Among low-income adults in a national sample, food insecurity was associated with higher risk of hypertension and hyperlipidemia after adjustment for income and other factors (Seligman et al., 2010). In Yuma, where diabetes and obesity estimates are also high, food insecurity may make chronic disease harder to prevent and manage.
Possible Contributing Conditions
Yuma County grows much of the nation's winter vegetables, yet many residents who work in agriculture earn seasonal, low wages. Long distances in rural parts of the county, gaps in transportation and high housing costs compete with food in household budgets. These are hypotheses I will test through the literature, the windshield survey and interviews.
Existing Resources
Federal nutrition programs such as SNAP and WIC operate in the county, and a regional food bank, school meal programs and faith-based pantries distribute food. SNAP participation has been associated with reductions in food insecurity among new participants (Mabli & Ohls, 2015). Part of the assessment will be learning how well these resources reach the people who need them.
Questions for the Assessment
1. Which groups in Yuma County experience food insecurity most often?
2. What barriers keep eligible households from using food assistance?
3. What strengths, such as community gardens, farmworker organizations or churches, could support a health promotion response?
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). PLACES: Local data for better health, county data, 2025 release [Data set]. https://data.cdc.gov/500-Cities-Places/PLACES-Local-Data-for-Better-Health-County-Data-20/swc5-untb
Gundersen, C., & Ziliak, J. P. (2015). Food insecurity and health outcomes. Health Affairs, 34(11), 1830-1839. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645
Mabli, J., & Ohls, J. (2015). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation is associated with an increase in household food security in a national evaluation. The Journal of Nutrition, 145(2), 344-351. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.114.198697
Rabbitt, M. P., Reed-Jones, M., Hales, L. J., & Burke, M. P. (2024). Household food security in the United States in 2023 (Economic Research Report No. 337). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://doi.org/10.32747/2024.8583175.ers
Seligman, H. K., Laraia, B. A., & Kushel, M. B. (2010). Food insecurity is associated with chronic disease among low-income NHANES participants. The Journal of Nutrition, 140(2), 304-310. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.112573
Reading the HEP 386 Module 1 assignment instructions
The Initial Rationale in HEP 386 Module 1 is worth 20 points and builds directly on the Selecting a Priority Health Concern assignment, the foundation for the needs and strengths assessment you carry through the whole course. You conduct preliminary background research on the concern you chose, usually in your home community. The rationale should show that the concern is real, measurable and important in that community, and it should set up the later reading, observation, interviews and volunteering. Check the instructor's prompt in Canvas for required sections and length. Because everything later in the course builds on this choice, pick a concern you care about and can observe.
How this HEP 386 Module 1 example is built
The sample defines food insecurity in one sentence and names the community. A prevalence section compares national and county estimates, with a table of related county measures and confidence intervals. A health section links food insecurity to chronic disease with two studies. Short sections cover possible contributing conditions, framed as hypotheses, and existing resources, and the paper closes with three questions the assessment will answer, including one about community strengths. Each figure is dated and attributed, and the confidence intervals signal that the county numbers come from statistical models, not head counts. The contributing conditions are worded as possibilities to check, which keeps the rationale honest about what is not yet known.
Reading the HEP 386 Module 1 grading rubric
The rationale is worth 20 points. Readers check that the concern is clearly defined, that local and national data establish its importance, that sources are credible and cited and that the paper looks ahead to the assessment. Marks drop when the concern is too broad, such as "nutrition," when only national data appear, when causes are asserted rather than proposed and when the paper ignores strengths, which the course title places beside needs. Instructors also reward rationales that connect the concern to health outcomes rather than treating it as a social issue only, and that show early awareness of the people and organizations already involved, since they become interview and volunteer contacts.
HEP 386 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
Choose a concern you can study in a community you know and can visit. Find at least one county or city data source. Define the concern in one sentence. Separate what the data show from what you suspect. List local organizations already working on the problem; they become your volunteer site and interview contacts. If your concern feels too large, the desk can help you narrow it. Keep a running list of sources from the start; the literature review plan in Module 2 will use them. Note anything you cannot find local data for, since the windshield survey and interviews can help fill those gaps. Write your three assessment questions last. Cite as you go.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More HEP 386 and BS in Health Education and Health Promotion sample papers
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- HEP 386 Module 6: Module 6 Assignment: Present Your Assessment!
- HEP 456 Module 6: Sections 10 and 11: Evaluation Timeline and Communication Plan
- HEP 454 Module 10: Assignment 10: Final Program Plan
- HEP 452 Module 2: Module 2 Assignment: Opinion Editorial with SMOG Readability Assessment
- HEP 466 Module 3: Module 3 Artifact: Program Budget Presentation
HEP 386 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HEP 386 Module 1 sample paper?
The full Initial Rationale on food insecurity in Yuma County is on this page.
What is the Initial Rationale in HEP 386?
Preliminary background research on the priority health concern selected for the course-long assessment.
How common is food insecurity in the United States?
The USDA counted 13.5% of households as food insecure during 2023.
Why does HEP 386 ask about strengths as well as needs?
Community strengths, such as organizations and programs, shape what a health promotion response can build on.
Where can I find county food insecurity data?
The CDC PLACES project publishes modeled county estimates, including food insecurity.