CAROLINE JARVIS

Project
Proposal
 CAROLINE JARVIS

A. ABSTRACT

The title of my paper is Mental Illness, Misdiagnosis, and Malpractice while the title of

my project is titled Misdiagnosis Dash. My overarching topic is mental illnesses, and my specific

topic is the effects of misdiagnosis on a persons everyday life. I have selected this topic because

teenagers and young adults all over the country have to deal with the disastrous consequences of

a misdiagnosis of a mental illness, leading to harmful side-effects and life-altering changes. My

driving questions to help me with my research are as follows:

What effects could a misdiagnosis have on a patient?

Can doctors be charged with medical malpractice for the misdiagnosis of a mental

illness?

How easy is it for these patients to recover from a misdiagnosis?

How can the effects of a misdiagnosed medication worsen a patients condition?

My project will be a Misdiagnosis Dash. The Misdiagnosis Dash will be a walk-a-thon to

raise money for NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness, who aid those who are mentally ill

by teaching them more about their illnesses, offering support groups and counseling, as well as a

helpline for those crises. My consultant will be Catherine Miekina, who is a teacher at First

Colonial High School. My project will hopefully take place at Green Run High School on April

22, 2017. My success with this project will be evaluated by the amount of time and effort I have

put into my project and the challenges presented to me throughout the duration of it. In order to

properly fulfill my projects requirements, I will need volunteers to help me at various

checkpoints, poster board, tables, refreshments, donation boxes, various decorations, and

catering for my event.

 CAROLINE JARVIS

B. LEARNING SKILLS

In order to complete my Senior Project and ensure that it is successful, it is required that I

adapt new learning skills and enhance skills I already know in order to give my project the

stretch that it needs to become something new and unique to me. These new skills are as follows:

Organizing a large scale event.

Learn how to write professional emails to businesses and school officials.

In addition to these new skills, it is also required that I enhance some of the skills I have

previously learned from my eighteen years on Earth. The skills that I will be enhancing are as

follows:

Communication skills.

Time management.

Creating schedules.
 CAROLINE JARVIS

C. MARKETING PLAN/FACILITIES/AUDIENCE

In order to complete this project in the way that I feel is fit for the topic, I dont believe

that I have a narrowed type of audience that I would like to attend my project. Mental illness is a

real epidemic sweeping the country and so many people develop these illnesses but never seek

professional help for their conditions, while at the same time, so many people do not know the

signs of mental illnesses and are completely uneducated when it comes to the types of illnesses,

the medications for illnesses, and how not to let their illness define them. Although my project

will mainly be a 5k run or walk, I hope to have booths set up around the area where people can

come and learn about the dangers of misdiagnosis and the need to seek help.

In order to market my walk-a-thon, I will post it around on social media and advertise

around First Colonial, though the walk-a-thon itself will not be hosted at the school. Another way

I can gain publicity is through my step-father. My step-father is an avid racer - hes always out

running races on the weekends - and he has many friends that might be interested in participating

in my event, and even volunteering!

 CAROLINE JARVIS

D. PROJECT STEPS

Preliminary Gather a list of possible locations, sponsors/donators. 6

Steps Meet with advisor to go over a checklist of supplies that will hours
be necessary for my project to be successful.

Midway Steps Create an agenda for the event, confirm venue. 5

Secure volunteers for event. hours
Continue meeting with advisor.

Later Steps Create booths for event. 6

Advertise for event. hours
Continue meeting with advisor.

Follow-Up Collect all money donated to send to NAMI. 4

Send out thank-you notes to all volunteers for event. hours
Send out thank-you to advisor.
Send out thank-you notes to sponsors/venue.

Total 21
hours
 CAROLINE JARVIS

E. PROJECT DOCUMENTATION

In order to properly document the process of my senior project, there are a few things I

would have to do in order to present a solid defense during the end of the year panel. The

majority of my documentation will be through video or photographs, showing my process of

learning more about the laws that outline the misdiagnosis of mental illnesses and the process of

creating my booths for my 5k.

While photographs and videos are very crucial for my steps, I will also save all of my

emails from my advisor, the venues, and any vendors I get in contact with. In addition to

documenting my steps leading up to my project, I will also take photographs and videos from the

5k itself, keep small mementos from it, and create copies of my thank-you notes to my advisor,

volunteers, venue, and sponsors.

 CAROLINE JARVIS

F. PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

This project will be extremely challenging for me to complete. Being a very shy person,

not only will the panel presentations be challenging, but learning how to effectively

communicate with authority figures and those who I am going to rely on for this project to be

successful will be a difficult task. Running something that is on such a high scale, such as an

event like this 5k run/walk, takes an absurd amount of patience and will test all of my time-

management skills, as well as my organizational skills.

 CAROLINE JARVIS

G. PROJECT-PAPER CONNECTION

The legal issue that I have chosen to analyze is the misdiagnosis of mental illnesses and

the effects that it could have on a persons life, and in order to analyze this completely, I also

would be required to research the guidelines of medical practice in the United States and what is

defined, or considered, as medical malpractice. My project is titled Misdiagnosis Dash, and in

this event, there will be booths and speeches giving more information on mental illnesses to the

runners/walkers about misdiagnosis, medical malpractices, and the mental illnesses that will be

mentioned in the paper. The main event of this project, though, is the donation of money to the

National Alliance for Mental Illnesses, or NAMI, to help fund their help-hotlines and to help

fund more research on these mental illnesses plaguing Americans.

 CAROLINE JARVIS

H. ACADEMIC HONESTY

Academic honesty is being completely honest and moral about your academic standing

and the integrity of your work. If you are not academically honest, you can and will get expelled

from the academy, due to the fact that the academy and its teachers and coordinator hold all of

their students at a very high moral standard. One form of academic dishonesty is the use of

plagiarism, which is when you use someone elses work without citing it and claim it as your

own. I understand that the academy takes academic honesty very seriously and I will never

purposefully plagiarize or lie to my teachers or my academy coordinator about the integrity of

my work.

I understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of the project will result in failure
of the Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.