I need you to go off of your health trajectories in the future.

HDFS 314: Adult Development and Aging

Homework #2

Physical Health Trajectory (40 points)

• Your completed assignment should be 3-4 pages in length.
  • Plus a separate reference page.
• Please submit your assignment in APA format (Times New Roman 12pt font, double spaced, 1” margins).
• Include APA style in-text citations and references.
• All information from the lecture or readings must be written in your own words.
  • Please do not use direct quotes.

In this homework assignment, you will write about your life from your present age up to, and including, your death.  Changes in your physical health are the focus of this assignment. The paper is not entirely fictional - it should draw upon the scientific literature that may be relevant to the trajectories you imagine for your future life.

• If you have a physical health condition and find it painful to write about the ways that will affect your life moving forward, please feel free to make up a fictional health trajectory (as long as the impacts you describe are grounded in research).
• Please review the Sample Life Trajectory posted in Canvas to get an idea of how you should describe your own life trajectory.

Objective: You are to write about your health trajectory from your current age (or younger) and describe how aspects of this trajectory change or remain stable across your adulthood. 

1. Describe how health status, family histories of disease, and health behaviors influence each individual’s health trajectory and longevity. Include these factors as you map out your own health trajectory. 
   1. Draw on material from the textbook to explain these factors.
2. Describe your current health.  Do you have any health issues that might affect your long-term health outcomes?  Does your social status (e.g., ethnicity, gender, education, socioeconomic status) make you susceptible to any type of illness? Have you been exposed to environmental toxins?
3. Describe any diseases that run in your family.  Talk to someone in your family about your medical family history. Does your family history put you at risk for changes in your health trajectory?
4. How are your health behavior habits?  Are you a couch potato, a moderate exerciser, or an elite athlete?  If you are a football player or gymnast, what are your chances of developing severe musculoskeletal problems in midlife?   Does your physical activity (e.g., dancing, wrestling) put you at risk for eating disorders?   What are the probable long-term effects of your patterns of consumption of food, alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs?  Do you do anything to mitigate risk factors in your background? 
5. Please note that you must have a specific and plausible cause of death (NOT just dying in your sleep, which will result in an automatic 5 point deduction). I understand that this might be a difficult subject for some individuals, so choose something that you can comfortably discuss. Try to keep in mind that this is an exercise in applying the knowledge gained through this course and nothing more.
6. Find two scientific journal articles (1 journal article and 1 government website are acceptable) to help you obtain research-based information about your health issues.
7. Use these articles, your observations, and your imagination to describe your health trajectory.