| Course | NU713 Epidemiology and Social Determinants of Population Health |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Determinants profile |
| Length | About 910 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU713 Unit 2
Fourteen Tracts, Twenty Indicators, Every One With Its Source: A Social Determinants Profile of the East Side of Composite Brennard County Across the Five Healthy People 2030 Domains
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU713: Epidemiology and Social Determinants of Population Health
Unit 2 Determinants Profile
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Brennard County and its values are composite; every figure is a bracketed placeholder for the value the named source would supply, and each source is named so a student can fetch the real one.
The Defined Population
The population is the [14] contiguous census tracts east of the [river] in composite Brennard County, home to about [61,300] residents in the 2019 to 2023 American Community Survey five-year estimates. The median age is [31], against [38] for the county. About [44] percent of residents are Black, [27] percent Hispanic and [24] percent white, against [18], [12] and [63] percent countywide. Tracts were chosen because they share a boundary, a school district and a health center, not because they are the poorest, so the profile describes a place rather than a selected group.
Indicators are grouped under the five Healthy People 2030 domains, which the section headings below follow in the federal order (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2020). Each indicator below gives the east-side value first, then the county value, then its source, years and geography.
Economic Stability
Poverty: [29.4] percent of residents below the federal poverty line, against [12.1] percent for the county, from five-year survey table S1701 covering 2019 to 2023, by tract. Rent burden: [58] percent of renter households pay 30 percent or more of income on rent, against [44] percent, from the same survey, table B25070, by tract. Unemployment: [9.8] percent of the civilian labor force, against [5.1] percent, table S2301, by tract. Eviction filings: [11.2] per 100 renter households in [2024], against [5.0], from county court dockets matched to tracts by address.
Education Access and Quality
Adults without a high school diploma: [21.7] percent of those 25 and older, against [9.3] percent, from table S1501, by tract. Chronic absence: [31] and [27] percent of students at the two east-side elementary schools in the [2023 to 2024] school year, against [16] percent districtwide, from the state education department, by school. Preschool enrollment: [34] percent of children aged three and four, against [49] percent, from table S1401, by tract. Third-grade reading proficiency: [38] percent, against [61] percent, from the state assessment for [2024], by school.
Health Care Access and Quality
Uninsured: [14.2] percent of residents under 65, against [7.8] percent, from table S2701, by tract. Primary care shortage: all [14] tracts sit inside a federally designated shortage area for primary care, against [5] of the county's other [82] tracts, from the federal shortage area data for [2024]. Routine checkup in the past year: [68] percent of adults, against [75] percent, from PLACES, the CDC's small-area estimates, for [2022], by tract. Dental visit in the past year: [52] percent of adults, against [66] percent, from the same source.
Neighborhood and Built Environment
No vehicle: [18.5] percent of households, against [7.2] percent, from table B25044, by tract. Older housing: [47] percent of housing units built before 1950, against [19] percent, from table B25034, by tract, relevant to lead exposure and to heating costs. Low food access: [3] of the [14] tracts are classed as low-income and low-access, against [9] of [82] elsewhere, from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas, [2019]. No home internet subscription: [24] percent of households, against [11] percent, from table S2801, by tract.
Social and Community Context
Residential segregation: a Black-white dissimilarity index of [0.58] for the county, computed from tract counts in the American Community Survey, which means [58] percent of one group would have to move for the two to be evenly distributed. Lack of social and emotional support: [28] percent of adults, against [21] percent, from CDC PLACES modeled estimates, by tract. Single-parent households: [44] percent of family households with children, against [27] percent, from table S1101, by tract. Voter participation: [41] percent of registered voters in the [2022] general election, against [58] percent, from the county board of elections, by precinct aggregated to tracts.
Every one of the twenty indicators points the same way, but the profile is useful because each one can be checked, not because the pattern is striking.
What the Profile Does Not Show
The profile describes the tracts, not the people in them. Averages hide variation: a tract with [29] percent poverty also contains households with stable incomes. Several indicators, including those from CDC PLACES, come from statistical models, not from counting residents, and their uncertainty at the tract level is considerable. The American Community Survey pools five years, so it describes a period, not a single year. And the profile shows conditions, not causes. Determinants of health are, as Braveman and Gottlieb put it, the causes of the causes, but a profile can only place them side by side; showing how they lead to disease requires other methods (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014).
How the Profile Will Be Used
Later units will draw on specific rows. The eviction row supports the housing argument begun in Unit 1. The segregation index anticipates the structural framework in Unit 9, where research on structural racism, including residential segregation, helps explain how conditions cluster in a place (Bailey et al., 2017). And the health care access rows will inform the options compared in the final brief.
References
Bailey, Z. D., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J., Linos, N., & Bassett, M. T. (2017). Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1453-1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30569-X
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: It's time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(Suppl. 2), 19-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549141291S206
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Healthy People 2030: Social determinants of health.
Reading the NU 713 Unit 2 instructions
Unit 2 asks you to define a population and profile its social determinants of health. Most versions want a clear definition of the population, a set of indicators organized by a recognized framework such as the Healthy People 2030 domains, a source and year for every figure, comparison values, and a note on limits. Around five pages, much of it in a table, is typical. Faculty reward a population defined by a meaningful boundary, indicators chosen to cover all domains rather than only economic ones, provenance for every number, and honesty about modeled estimates and pooled years. When you combine tracts, sum the counts before computing percentages, and choose comparison values at a geography that makes the contrast meaningful.
How this NU713 Unit 2 example is built
The profile opens by defining the fourteen tracts, their population, median age and racial composition, and explains why they were chosen as a place rather than as the poorest group. Each domain then gets four indicators written as full sentences with the east-side value, the county value, the source table and geography. Economic stability covers poverty, rent burden, unemployment and eviction filings; education covers diplomas, chronic absence, preschool and reading; access covers insurance, shortage designation, checkups and dental visits; the built environment covers vehicles, housing age, food access and internet; social context covers segregation, support, family structure and voting. The highlighted sentence explains why provenance matters, and closing sections set out limits and later uses.
NU713 Unit 2 rubric: what earns full points
Determinants profiles are commonly assessed on the population definition, framework, indicator selection, provenance and interpretation. A clear definition with boundaries and size earns full credit. The framework criterion rewards indicators organized under all five domains. Selection is judged on relevance and balance, with at least one structural indicator. Provenance is often the heaviest row: each figure needs a source, year and geography, and a comparison value. Interpretation is credited when the profile explains what the indicators can and cannot show, including tract averages, modeled estimates and pooled survey years. A table that a reader can scan quickly, with notes on methods beneath it, usually earns the presentation points as well.
NU713 Unit 2 help: mistakes that cost points
A common weakness is a table of numbers with no sources or years, which a grader cannot check. Another is a population defined as a whole county, which hides the contrast the course is about. Some profiles cover only economic indicators and miss education, access or social context. Others average percentages across tracts rather than summing counts. Many students present modeled estimates as if they were direct counts. And interpretation is often missing entirely, leaving the reader to draw conclusions. Define a real place, fill every domain, attach a source to every figure, and end by saying what the profile cannot show and how you will use it next.
Get an NU713 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Say which population your Unit 2 profile should cover, whether tracts, a county or a practice panel, and pass along the prompt and rubric. The first custom sample is free, arrives inside 24-48h and keeps to your section's instructions, every figure sourced, dated and placed beside a matching comparison. 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 NU713 papers and DNP samples
- NU713 Unit 1: Discussion Post, Eviction and Diabetes
- NU713 Unit 3: Measurement Critique
- NU713 Unit 4: Fundamental Cause Paper
- NU713 Unit 5: Seminar Reflection
- NU713 Unit 6: Disparities Analysis
- NU713 Unit 7: Age-adjusted Rate Comparison
- NU713 Unit 8: Secondary Data Appraisal
- NU713 Unit 9: Structural Framework Application
- NU713 Unit 10: Population Health Brief
- NU703 Unit 2: DNP and PhD Role Comparison
NU713 Unit 2 questions, answered
Which five domains does the profile use?
Healthy People 2030 sorts social determinants into five domains: the built environment of the neighborhood, social and community context, economic stability, and access to and quality of both education and health care. Many NU713 sections use those five, though some instructors assign a different framework. Keep whatever structure your prompt names; the habit of sourcing and dating each figure carries over to any set of headings.
Can I combine American Community Survey tracts into one population?
Yes, by summing counts rather than averaging percentages. Add the numerators and denominators across tracts and then compute the percentage, so a tract of 900 people does not weigh the same as one of 6,000. Margins of error combine differently, and the Census Bureau publishes a formula for approximating them. State whichever method you used in a table note.
Should a determinants profile include health outcomes too?
Usually a few, placed after the determinants and kept brief, so the reader sees what the conditions might be shaping. The main work is the determinant table itself. If your prompt asks for outcomes, pull them at the same geography where possible; a tract determinant set beside a county outcome creates a mismatch graders tend to notice.
Where can I find a free NU713 Unit 2 sample paper?
This page holds the full NU713 Unit 2 determinants profile: a defined population of fourteen tracts, twenty indicators across five domains with sources and comparison values, a section on limits and a note on later use, with three references. Drafting help for a profile of the population you serve is available.
Why include a segregation index in NU713 Unit 2?
Because structural conditions belong beside household measures. A dissimilarity index shows how unevenly groups are distributed across tracts, which helps explain why disadvantages cluster in one place, and it prepares the ground for the structural framework in Unit 9.