Assessment Brief

Module title: Research Project 1: Global Health

Assessment Point: Assessment point
Assessment task: Systematic Literature Review

General Guidance
Your assignment should be word processed (handwritten assignments are not
accepted), using time new roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages
and your student number printed as a footer on every page.
The word limits stated for this assignment excludes the reference list at the end of the
assignment but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct
quotations, in-text citations, footnotes, tables, diagrams and graphs).
Appendices are not considered a supplement, and thus, will not be assessed as part of
the content of the assignment. As such, they will not contribute to the grade awarded,
however it may be appropriate to use an Appendices section for any material which is
a useful reference for the reader. Please note that appendices are not included in the
word count.
The majority of references should come from primary sources (e.g., journal articles,
conference papers, reports, etc.) although you can also utilise area specific textbooks.
You must ensure that you use the Harvard style of referencing.

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 low-
income 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.

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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.
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 also note that the Level 7 marking
criteria (located towards the end of this assessment brief) will also be used to reflect
this overall grade. 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.
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 low-income
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

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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.).

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 - State the aim(s) and objectives
of this systematic literature
review.
Methodology / A detailed description should be
Methods 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)

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.).

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 (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.
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

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 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.
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.

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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 low-
income 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 low-
income 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?

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 (3) Recommendations need to
be provided in this section for
how the issues that are
hampering progress (with
relevance to the named low-
income country) with the
chosen Sustainable
Development Goal being met by
2030 might be better 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.
Presentation and High quality presentation that
Referencing conforms to principles of
academic writing and contains
minimal errors in sentence
construction, grammar and
punctuation. The assignment
followed appropriate academic
conventions regarding in-text
citations and referencing.

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