Health research is a common undertaking for scholars in the medical and health sciences disciplines.
May it be in medicine or nursing school, it is almost certain you will be required to write a medical research paper or a nursing research paper.
Coming up with an appropriate topic is a key part of the writing process, where in most cases, the instructor will require you find an interesting topic to explore.
Note that finding such a topic is a rigorous process.
To begin with, to help find suitable medical and health topics for research papers, you have to understand what the field entails.
Accordingly, the health and medical sciences encompass:
An applied science that seeks to use portions of formal or natural science, or both to interventions, technology, or knowledge useful in public health or healthcare.
Health and medical sciences are in a nutshell an applied natural and life sciences domain used for treatment, prevention, and diagnosis of human diseases.
Finding Health Topics for Research Papers
Just like in the case of medical argumentative essay topics or medical persuasive speech topics, coming up with health topics for research papers demands that you explore different areas and issues that constitute and affect the health discipline.
A scholar may therefore decide to focus on different health-related research topics, for example:
1. Research topics in healthcare management,
2. Research topics in health and wellness,
3. Public health topics for research paper, or
4. Mental health topics for research paper.
Note that while medical research paper topics would usually be more focused on the therapeutic aspect of health, health topics for research papers cover far and wide areas of health.
The above noted, there are different approaches that you could adopt to help find health topics for research papers.
These approaches are:
1. Identifying two or three interesting topics in your discipline
This approach requires you to write down two or three specific health-related research topics in area of interest within your discipline.
The approach entails reflecting on your discipline to identify specific areas that may arouse interest or controversy.
For example, you may look at obesity as a national problem, discrepancies in best practices in a specific area, or muscular injuries common in a sport like ice hockey.
2. Identifying a condition or disease of interest to you
This is another feasible approach towards finding health topics for research papers.
The approach is also suitable for scholars not working in the health care field yet.
To find research topics in health and wellness through this approach, you need to reflect on the health conditions and diseases that are affecting or in the past affected people you know, including yourself, family members, or friends.
Areas to explore may include:
1. Hereditary nature of the condition or disease,
2. Risk factors for the condition or disease,
3. Primary prevention methods for reducing risk, or
4. Secondary or tertiary prevention methods.
3. Exploring a health issue that might have drawn you to the profession
This is also an effective approach towards finding suitable health-related research topics.
Just like in the case with identifying a condition or disease of interest, this approach demands personal reflection.
It requires you to examine a health issue that might have attracted you to the health and medical sciences discipline.
The approach is suitable when exploring for example, research topics in healthcare management and research topics in health and wellness.
4. Exploring current news articles on health issues
Going through recent articles could as well help you generate ideas on viable health topics for research papers.
The best place to begin with when exploring news articles is by looking for issues related to your locality, including hometown, district, or state.
For instance, you could explore articles providing statistical pictures of the health status of the concerned population.
Such a picture can provide numerous ideas about present health issues that require attention.
5. Exploring the table of contents of publications on the Nation’s health status
As well, this is another viable approach to finding potential health topics for research papers.
The approach can help acquire ideas on different areas, including public health topics for research paper, mental health topics for research paper, and research topics in healthcare management.
You should look at the table of contents of journal articles particularly the more recent ones.
The table of contents can be used to brainstorm on new areas to conduct research on.
6. Reviewing topics in textbooks of other related courses
This approach is also useful when looking for potential health topics for research papers.
It requires you to examine textbooks for issues not purely within the health and medical sciences discipline but have an impact on the discipline.
Potential areas derived from the approach could vary widely ranging from research topics in healthcare management to healthcare advocacy, communication, leadership, and auxiliary technology in health care.
7. Exploring an interesting aspect of health care management
This is another approach that could be used to find potential health research topics for college students.
The approach is suitable for exploring potential health-related research topics focusing on issues outside pure medical practice.
Note that there are a myriad of management issues that affect health and medical practice.
The approach can focus on emerging issues in healthcare management.
Key areas to pay attention to include costs, ethics, and health care access.
8. Identifying controversial issues in healthcare
Looking for controversial issues is an effective approach towards finding prospective health topics for research papers.
The approach would require you to find areas of healthcare practice that are contentious.
Such areas usually raise heated debates on the entailed issues and you could explore different arguments or implications.
Examples of controversial areas include use of marijuana for anxiety disorders treatment, legalization of narcotics, and euthanasia.
9. Combining different interests
Combining different interests is also a viable option when it comes to finding viable health research topics for college students.
This strategy entails coming up with a multifaceted approach towards addressing issues in the health and medical discipline.
For instance, you could seek to explore ethic and racial issues in healthcare delivery or socio-economic challenges facing an area or aspect of healthcare.
Areas to Look for Health Topics for Research Papers
There are numerous areas to look for viable medical and health research topics for research papers.
From these areas, you should explore for ideas or issues that could be researched on.
The areas include:
| AIDS | Fatigue | Patient privacy |
| Acupuncture | Faith healing | Patient education |
| Acne | Forborne illness | Plastic surgery |
| Animal testing | Gene therapy | Penicillin |
| Alternative medicine | Gastric bypass | Postnatal depression |
| Anosmia | Holistic care | Regional anesthesia |
| Asthma | Herbal medicine | Radiation |
| Antibiotic resistance | HMOs | Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) |
| Bedside manner | Immunotherapy | Sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) |
| Bereavement assistance | Immunizations | Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) |
| Breastfeeding | Inhalation therapy | Substance abuse |
| Bone marrow transplant | Influenza | Steroids |
| Burnout | Meditation | Support groups |
| Chronic pain | Medical ethics | Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) |
| Carpal tunnel syndrome | Music therapy | Teratogenesis |
| Crew resource management (CRM) | Neurobiology | Vitamin supplements |
| Compassion fatigue | Neural systems | Vaccine shortages |
| Diet fads | Organ donation | Vaccination |
| Dementia | Obesity epidemic | Weight loss |
| Euthanasia | Pandemics | Yoga |
| Eating disorders | Pain scale | |
| Evidence-based practice | Parasitology |
Examples of Health Topics for Research Papers
From the above areas, you can go ahead and generate appropriate medical and health research topics for research papers.
Some of such topics may include:
1. Role of attitudes and knowledge on medical male circumcision in HIV prevention.
2. Effects of cervical cancer screening services on cervical cancer awareness among reproductive women in rural areas/ among Hispanics.
3. Causes of inactivity among youths in urban areas.
4. Effects of alcohol advertisement on alcohol consumption among college students.
5. The relationship between cardiopulmonary condition and quality of life for persons with diabetes.
6. Effects of interventions in early childhood on the health of under 5-years old children in rural areas/ among African-American families.
7. The effects of obesity on the mental stability of teenage girls.
8. Factors that cause low contraceptive use among adolescents in rural areas/ among Native Americans.
9. Factors that influence child mortality in hospital emergency centers.
10. Staff perceptions on the implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) System.
11. The role of social media in conducting educational programs on healthy lifestyles among youth.
12. Consumer awareness and effective reliance on nutritional labels in diet decision making.
13. Nature of coagulation disorders among neonates within the first week of birth in emergency centers.
14. Anemia risk factors among pregnant women receiving antenatal care.
15. The effect of preventive medicine on the health of senior citizens.
16. Relationship between depression and quality of life among caregivers attending to stroke survivors.
17. The effect of diversity in nutrition on children between 6 and 24 months of age.
18. Health benefits associated with whole grain diets in cardiovascular disease prevention.
19. Roles of spirituality and social support in the well-being of parents with special needs children.
20. Use of mass media in campaigns supporting contraceptive use among young mothers in rural areas/ among Hispanics.
21. Major risk factors for/ causes of ankle sprains among adult athletes.
22. Psychological stressors and coping mechanism of emergency room (ER) nurses.
23. Predictors of antimicrobial susceptibility among pregnant women.
24. Prescription practices of opioids.
25. Best approaches towards itching treatment for hospitalized patients.
26. Barriers young adults face in adhering to smoking cessation guidelines provided as core part of healthy lifestyle advice.
27. Disease prevention strategies for elderly people with chronic conditions after occurrence of disasters like hurricane.
28. Risk factors for malnutrition among adolescents in urban areas.
29. Relationship between an individual’s level of exercise and their mental health.
30. Maintaining ethical balance between individual and population interests in the management of pandemics.
