| Course | HD499 Bachelor's Capstone in Health Education and Promotion |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Project scope proposal |
| Length | About 550 words, 4 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health and Wellness |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HD499 Unit 2
One Population, One Problem, and What Stays Out: A Unit 2 Project Scope Proposal for Leftover Opioid Pills After Surgery
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HD499: Bachelor's Capstone in Health Education and Promotion
Unit 2 Project Scope Proposal
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Corley County, its surgery center, pharmacies and figures are composite; the systematic review, the disposal trial and the stage model cited are real.
Population
Adults aged 18 and older who fill an opioid prescription at one of Corley County's three community pharmacies within three days of a procedure at the county's outpatient surgery center or the hospital's day-surgery unit. About [3,200] such prescriptions are filled each year.
Priority segment: households that include a child aged 12 to 19, about a third of the population. Leftover pills in these homes are within reach of teenagers at the age when misuse of prescription opioids often begins.
Problem
Unused opioid pills kept at home after recovery. Most patients do not use all the pills they are given after surgery, and few dispose of the remainder (Bicket et al., 2017). Pills kept in a medicine cabinet can be taken by others, sold or used later without supervision.
Behavior
Disposing of leftover pills within two weeks of stopping them, by a drug deactivation pouch, a pharmacy kiosk or a take-back event.
Why This Scope
The behavior is specific, can be measured by a follow-up call or text, and has an intervention with trial evidence: a randomized trial found that giving patients a drug deactivation bag at the time of surgery increased the share who reported disposing of their leftover opioids (Brummett et al., 2019). The pharmacies and surgery center see every person in the population, which makes them natural delivery points.
The project changes what happens to pills after they leave the pharmacy, not how many are prescribed, because that second question belongs to surgeons and the hospital's prescribing committee and would need a different project and different authority.
Out of Scope
Prescribing practices. Reducing the number of pills prescribed would also reduce leftovers, but it requires changing surgeons' decisions, which this project cannot do.
People with chronic pain on long-term opioids. Their needs and risks differ, and disposal at two weeks does not fit their treatment.
Treatment for opioid use disorder. Important, but a separate service with separate partners.
Other medicines. Leftover sedatives or stimulants matter too, but including them would blur the message.
Theory
The project will use the Precaution Adoption Process Model, which lays out a path running from never having thought about a risk, through weighing it, to taking action (Weinstein, 1988). Many patients have never considered what to do with leftover pills, so the early stages matter.
Deliverables Across the Term
Community assessment, program plan, implementation approach, evaluation design, a presentation to partners and a final capstone document.
Risks to the Scope
If a pharmacy declines to take part, the population shrinks. If the surgery center will not share counts, the denominator must be estimated from pharmacy records. Both are named now so they can be checked in the assessment unit. A third risk is that patients decline texts, which would weaken the follow-up measure; the consent rate will be tracked from the first week so the evaluation can adjust if it is low.
References
Bicket, M. C., Long, J. J., Pronovost, P. J., Alexander, G. C., & Wu, C. L. (2017). Prescription opioid analgesics commonly unused after surgery: A systematic review. JAMA Surgery, 152(11), 1066-1071. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2017.0831
Brummett, C. M., Steiger, R., Englesbe, M., Khalsa, C., DeBlanc, J. J., Denton, L. R., & Waljee, J. (2019). Effect of an activated charcoal bag on disposal of unused opioids after an outpatient surgical procedure: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Surgery, 154(6), 558-561. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2019.0155
Weinstein, N. D. (1988). The precaution adoption process. Health Psychology, 7(4), 355-386. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.7.4.355
The Purdue Global HD499 Unit 2 instructions
The second unit typically asks for a written proposal that sets the boundaries of the capstone: the population, the health issue, the behavior or condition the project targets and what it will not attempt. Many prompts also ask for a theory or model, a list of deliverables and the constraints you foresee. Expect two to four pages in most sections. Population counts are worth including even as estimates, since later units build objectives on them. Explain each exclusion rather than simply listing it, and connect the scope to the evidence that the problem matters. If your instructor gave feedback on the Unit 1 post, show that you used it.
Inside the HD499 Unit 2 example
Sections on population, problem and behavior come first, each in a short paragraph with a figure where one exists. The section on why this scope fits argues that the project acts after the pharmacy counter rather than at the prescriber's desk. The highlighted sentence explains that choice: prescribing belongs to surgeons and a hospital committee, which would require another project and other authority. Four exclusions follow, each with a reason. The theory section introduces the Precaution Adoption Process Model because many patients have never thought about leftover pills. Deliverables run from the assessment to the final document, and a risks section names a pharmacy dropping out, missing surgery center counts and patients declining texts.
HD499 Unit 2 rubric: what earns full points
Rubrics for a scope proposal commonly weigh clarity of the population and problem, the logic of the boundaries, use of theory and evidence, and feasibility. A proposal loses marks when the population cannot be counted or when the behavior is too broad to measure. Strong proposals make each boundary a decision with a reason. Feasibility is judged on whether one student could plausibly carry the project through a term with the partners named. Theory earns credit when it is chosen because it fits the behavior, not because it is familiar. Mechanics and APA format usually account for a smaller share. Instructors also look for a scope that leaves room for the later units, so a proposal that already promises outcomes the evaluation could never measure tends to raise concerns early.
Common HD499 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The most frequent weakness is a scope that keeps growing, such as adding every substance or every age group because each seems important. Another is a theory picked from an earlier course without a reason it fits this behavior. Some proposals describe the problem well but never say what behavior will change, leaving later objectives with nothing to measure. Others list exclusions without explaining them, which reads as avoidance. If your population or problem differs, send the community and your draft boundaries, and a proposal can be built that argues each line you draw. It also helps to reread the proposal as a partner would, asking whether the boundaries make the project easier or harder for them to join.
Get an HD499 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Once the community and problem are settled, send both for HD499 along with any figures gathered to date and the Unit 2 prompt and rubric. A free first custom sample is ready within 24-48h: a population with a count, a problem that can be observed, exclusions with their reasons, and every remaining unit tied to its data. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HD499 papers and BS in Health and Wellness samples
- HD499 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HD499 Unit 3: Competency Mapping Plan
- HD499 Unit 4: Community Assessment Section
- HD499 Unit 5: Program Plan Section
- HD499 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- HD499 Unit 7: Implementation Approach
- HD499 Unit 8: Evaluation Design Section
- HD499 Unit 9: Capstone Presentation
- HD499 Unit 10: Capstone Document
- HD480 Unit 2: Audience Segmentation Profile
- HD460 Unit 2: Implementation Checklist
- HD440 Unit 2: Data Source Review
- HD420 Unit 2: Determinants Analysis
HD499 Unit 2 questions, answered
How specific does the population need to be?
Specific enough to count. A geographic boundary plus a defining characteristic, such as homeowners in a county or employees at one site, usually works, with a figure from census or organizational data. If you add a priority segment, explain why that group comes first. Vague populations such as at-risk adults make every later section harder to keep consistent.
Is it acceptable to exclude groups from the project?
Yes, provided each exclusion has a reason and is stated openly. Instructors generally prefer a narrow, defensible scope to a broad one the project cannot serve. Note where an excluded group's needs might be met, such as through a policy change or another program, so the exclusion reads as a judgment rather than an oversight.
What if my scope changes later in the term?
It sometimes does, especially after the assessment. If it changes, say so explicitly in the section where the change happens, and revise the earlier sections when you assemble the final document. What costs marks is an unacknowledged change, where the population or problem drifts between units with no explanation.
Where can I find a free HD499 Unit 2 sample paper?
A complete Unit 2 scope proposal is shown here, defining surgical patients with leftover opioid pills as the population and disposal as the target behavior.
Should the scope proposal name a theory already?
Most prompts expect one by this unit. Choose a model that matches the behavior's stages or barriers and say in a sentence or two why it fits better than the alternatives.