Health policy is the result of legislative action that establishes the scope, funding and focus for the policy in action. Health policies cover a wide variety of topics from actual patient care to biomedical research, and are the result of many different actors coming together to advocate for their constituents’ needs. When developing programs to address a health concern, it is important to understand the policy landscape related to the topic you want to address. In this individual assignment you will identify and investigate the details of a health policy related to your team topic.
Although this is an individual assignment team members should coordinate to avoid duplicative efforts. You can group your individual posts in a team “thread”, but be sure to identify your main post. Otherwise, be sure to identify your team topic in your own post for other students’ reference.
(Pro tip: go outside your group and comment on submissions from other teams).
What to do:
1. Identify policy related to your team focal area – include the name
a. Pro tip: use the library resources to find information on policy. It is also reasonable to google “health policy …”
b. Explain your selection and why it matters to your team focal topic.
2. Describe the policy
a. Identify the policy level – federal, state or local.
b. What is the focus/aim? What is the relationship to your focal area – does this provide funding or establish legal restrictions?
c. How is it funded, and who manages distributing the funds or oversees the programs?
d. How is it evaluated, and is it a permanent program or one that needs regular renewal?
e. Pro tip: many health policies have programs with dedicated websites where you can get more information – be sure to include it on the reference list!
3. Describe the legislative process
a. Who sponsored the legislation (who first put it in motion)?
b. What committees reviewed it, and what was the discussion about the benefits/drawbacks?
c. Who were the primary supporters and opponents?
d. Who voted yea/nay when this went up for a vote?
e. Pro tip: newspaper articles may have this information, but at the very least you can find the names of the sponsors and the outcome of the vote in the public record.
