| Course | NU733 Ethics, Policy, and Advocacy for Population Health |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Population profile |
| Length | About 920 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 NU733 Unit 4
Single, Older, Disabled and Outdoors: A Population Profile of the 612 People Sleeping Unsheltered in Composite Port Hadley, Drawn From Five Sources, With a Section on Who Is Missing
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU733: Ethics, Policy, and Advocacy for Population Health
Unit 4 Population Profile
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Port Hadley and every local figure are composite; numbers are bracketed placeholders for the values the named local sources would supply.
Sources
Five sources are used, each with a different view of the population. A one-night census each January, required by federal rules, gives a snapshot. The county's coordinated entry list lists every person screened for housing help during the year. The Health Care for the Homeless program's patient panel describes health conditions among those who use its clinics. Outreach logs record why people declined shelter when offered. And the medical examiner's records, used in Unit 1, show how people died. No single source describes the whole population, and each has gaps discussed at the end.
Who They Are
From the point-in-time count and the coordinated entry list, the unsheltered population is mostly single adults: [78] percent had no partner or children with them. About [64] percent are men. [Thirty-one] percent are aged 55 or older, a share that has risen from [19] percent in [2017]. Black residents make up [44] percent of the unsheltered population but [13] percent of the city, [3.4] times their share. About [46] percent meet the federal definition of chronic homelessness, which requires a disabling condition and either a year of continuous homelessness or at least four episodes in three years totaling twelve months (24 C.F.R. § 578.3, 2024).
The aging of this population is not unique to Port Hadley. Analysis of shelter data from several US cities found that the single adult homeless population was disproportionately drawn from people born in the second half of the baby boom, and projected that the number of older homeless adults would continue to grow, with rising needs for health and long-term care (Culhane et al., 2013).
Their Health
The Health Care for the Homeless program's panel of [2,310] patients, which includes both sheltered and unsheltered people, gives the clearest picture of health. Hypertension is recorded in [38] percent, a substance use disorder in [44] percent, serious mental illness in [27] percent, diabetes in [14] percent and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in [11] percent. Among patients aged 55 or older, [22] percent have a documented mobility limitation and [9] percent use a walker or wheelchair. These patterns are consistent with published reviews describing high rates of chronic disease, mental illness and substance use among homeless people in high-income countries, often diagnosed late (Fazel et al., 2014).
A population that is older, sicker and less mobile than planners usually picture will not be moved indoors by a bed that requires climbing to a top bunk before a nine o'clock curfew.
Why They Stay Outside
In [2024], outreach workers logged [340] refusals of an open shelter bed and wrote down a reason for [298] of them. The most common reasons were separation from a partner, since shelters house men and women separately ([24] percent); rules barring pets ([19] percent); curfews that conflict with night work ([18] percent); fear of theft or violence ([16] percent); and inaccessible beds or facilities for people with disabilities ([9] percent). The first three reasons together account for [61] percent of logged refusals, and all three are shelter rules rather than personal preferences about being outdoors.
How the Groups Overlap
The characteristics above are not separate groups. Among unsheltered adults aged 55 or older on the coordinated entry list, [58] percent also meet the chronic homelessness definition, and [36] percent have both a serious mental illness and a substance use disorder recorded somewhere in county service data. Older Black men make up the single largest subgroup, about [19] percent of the unsheltered population. People who declined shelter because of a partner were more often younger and more often women, while those who cited inaccessible beds were almost all over 55. Seeing these overlaps matters because a service designed for one characteristic, such as a program for older adults that does not accept people who are actively using drugs, can exclude much of the group it was meant to serve.
What This Means for Planning
The profile suggests that services built around a typical client who is young, single, able-bodied and willing to follow shelter rules will miss much of this population. Beds for couples, space for pets, flexible hours for night workers, accessible beds on ground floors and storage for belongings would each address a documented reason for refusal. The high rates of chronic disease and mental illness suggest that outreach needs health staff, not only housing staff. And the growth of the population over 55 points toward medical respite beds and long-term care planning.
Who Is Missing
Several groups are poorly captured. People who avoid all services appear in none of these sources except, eventually, the medical examiner's records. Youth who sleep in cars or move between friends' homes are undercounted in the point-in-time count. The health panel describes only those who use the clinic, who may be healthier or more connected than those who do not. Outreach logs capture only those whom outreach workers reach. And people who were recently housed but remain at high risk fall outside all five sources. A plan built on this profile should treat its figures as a floor, not a full count.
References
24 C.F.R. § 578.3 (2024).
Culhane, D. P., Metraux, S., Byrne, T., Stino, M., & Bainbridge, J. (2013). The age structure of contemporary homelessness: Evidence and implications for public policy. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 13(1), 228-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.12004
Fazel, S., Geddes, J. R., & Kushel, M. (2014). The health of homeless people in high-income countries: Descriptive epidemiology, health consequences, and clinical and policy recommendations. The Lancet, 384(9953), 1529-1540. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61132-6
What the NU733 Unit 4 assignment asks for
For Unit 4 you describe the population affected by your issue in enough detail to plan services around it. Most versions ask for demographics, health conditions, barriers to services and the limits of the data, drawn from several sources. Around six pages with tables is the usual scope. Faculty reward profiles that combine sources while stating what each can and cannot describe, characteristics chosen because they would change how a service is designed, and barriers described in the terms people give for them rather than as noncompliance. Include a section on who is missing from the sources, since the people least connected to services are often those at greatest risk, and treat every figure as a floor rather than a full count.
How this NU733 Unit 4 example is built
The profile opens by describing five sources and what each sees. A demographics section gives household type, sex, age, race and chronic homelessness under the federal definition, with published evidence on the aging of the single adult homeless population. A health section draws on the clinic panel, including mobility limits among older patients, and the highlighted sentence imagines a top bunk and a curfew. A section on refusals groups reasons by whether a rule or a preference drives them. A section on overlaps shows how age, chronicity and mental illness combine. A planning section translates each finding into a design change, and a closing section names groups the sources miss.
NU733 Unit 4 rubric: what earns full points
Population profiles are generally assessed on use of sources, description of the population, analysis of barriers, relevance to planning and acknowledgment of gaps. Use of sources earns credit when several are combined and each one's scope is stated. Description rewards specific, dated characteristics with comparison figures. Barrier analysis is judged on whether reasons are reported in people's own terms and grouped usefully. Relevance to planning is credited when characteristics are tied to service design. Gaps are credited when the profile names who is missing and why. Tables should be readable, sources cited in APA style, and any federal definitions quoted or cited accurately, especially definitions that determine who qualifies for programs.
Common NU733 Unit 4 mistakes, and how to avoid them
A frequent problem is profiling only the people who use a clinic and presenting them as the whole population. Another is describing refusals of shelter as noncompliance, which hides the rules behind them. Some profiles list characteristics without saying why a planner would care about them. Others treat each characteristic separately and miss how they combine. Many omit the question of who is missing. And federal definitions such as chronic homelessness are often paraphrased loosely. Combine sources, state what each can see, report barriers in people's own words, show where characteristics overlap, and close by naming the groups your sources cannot reach.
Get an NU733 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Describe the group your Unit 4 profile covers and where it lives, then attach the prompt, rubric and any required sources. A free first custom sample reaches you within 24-48h, following those directions, with every figure tied to its source and to that source's slice of the population. 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 NU733 papers and DNP samples
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- NU733 Unit 2: Discussion Post, Costs of a Clearance
- NU733 Unit 3: Ethical Framework Paper, Kass
- NU733 Unit 5: Statute Analysis
- NU733 Unit 6: Policy Brief
- NU733 Unit 7: Seminar Reflection
- NU733 Unit 8: Stakeholder Power Map
- NU733 Unit 9: Advocacy Letter
- NU733 Unit 10: Position Paper
- NU713 Unit 4: Fundamental Cause Paper, Colon Cancer
- NU703 Unit 4: Competency Self-Assessment, Essentials
NU733 Unit 4 questions, answered
How specific should a population profile be?
Specific enough that a planner could design a service from it: size, age, household type, health conditions, the barriers people report and where they are concentrated. A useful test is whether a reader could tell this group apart from a similar one in another city. If your description would fit any comparable population, add local figures until it would not.
Can clinic data describe a whole population?
Only the clinic's patients, and a profile should say so. People who use a clinic differ from those who do not, often by health status, trust and access. Clinic prevalence figures are valuable for describing need among people already reached. Pair them with population-wide sources such as a point-in-time count, and label which one describes whom.
How should shelter refusal be described in a profile?
In the terms people give for it, taken from outreach records or published studies, rather than as noncompliance. Common reasons include rules that separate couples or bar pets, curfews, safety fears and conditions that aggravate illness. Describing the reasons accurately matters later, because a policy assuming refusal is simple choice will be designed differently from one that addresses the barriers.
Where can I find a free NU733 Unit 4 sample paper?
This page holds the full NU733 Unit 4 population profile, with five sources, demographics, health conditions, reasons for refusing shelter, overlapping characteristics, planning implications and who is missing, plus three references. A profile of the population you serve can be drafted.
Why do people refuse shelter in NU733 Unit 4?
Outreach logs record separation from a partner, rules barring pets, curfews that clash with night work, fear of theft or violence, and inaccessible beds. The first three, all shelter rules, account for 61 percent of logged refusals.