Assignment: Policy Proposal and Implementation Plan

Assignment: Policy Proposal and Implementation Plan

Executive Summary

The chosen healthcare problem that is evident in my community is challenge in accessing to care due to high cost incurred by elderly patients with hypertension and high levels of cholesterol. The patients incur significant-out-of-pocket expenses in seeking the medical care that they need. The majority of the population in the region is in the lower socioeconomic status. The low socioeconomic status implies that the elderly in the community experience considerable barriers in accessing the care they need for hypertension due to high cost. Therefore, the proposed policy is the elimination of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by elderly patients with hypertension and high levels of cholesterol in purchasing their medications. The out-of-pocket costs such as copayments and coinsurance plans should be eliminated. Instead, elderly patients with the above conditions should receive free medications for their treatments. The policy will address the issue by reducing the burden of the disease due to the high cost of medications. The policy will also increase the level of treatment adherence among the elderly, thereby, minimizing the burden of the disease. The policy will further increase the utilization of healthcare services by this population, which will indirectly reduce hospitalization costs due to complications of hypertension and high levels of cholesterol. The most effective course of action that policy makers should adopt to address the policy change is adopting interventions that increase stakeholder awareness for optimum support. Interventions such as stakeholder participation in policy analysis, design, implementation and evaluation should be used to increase the successful implementation of the policy. Active stakeholder engagement will also minimize the actual and potential barriers to policy implementation.

Summary of the Context and Scope of the SDOH in My Community

            Social determinants of health have an impact on the access and utilization of healthcare services in a community. Social determinants of health evidence in my community include challenges in accessing the healthcare that the vulnerable populations require. In specific, the elderly population with hypertension and high levels of cholesterol experience challenges in access the care that they need due to the high cost of care in the region. The high cost of care is attributed to the influence of additional factors such as out-pocket expenses for purchasing medications needed for the management of hypertension and high levels of cholesterol. Therefore, interventions that aim at reducing the overall impact of cost on access to healthcare in the elderly patients suffering from hypertension and cholesterol should be embraced in the state.

Summary of How the Proposed Policy will Address the SDOH in My Community

            The proposed policy seeks to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses that elderly patients pay in the form of copayment and

coinsurances as they access the care for hypertension and high levels of cholesterol. Eliminating out-of-pocket payments would result in enhanced affordability, access and utilization of healthcare services by the elderly patients suffering from hypertension and high level of cholesterol. The policy will also increase the treatment outcomes for these patients as evidenced by increased treatment adherence, minimized complications and hospitalization rates. The policy will also reduce the utilization of expensive care by elderly patients with hypertension and high levels of cholesterol due to the complications associated with these conditions.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource

Policy Proposal and Implementation Plan


B.   Create a policy proposal and implementation plan by doing the following:

1.   Develop two policy alternatives to address the SDOH described in part A1.
Note: Include supporting evidence.

2.   Explain why one of the policy alternatives from part B1 is preferable over the other alternative.
Note: Include Supporting evidence.

3.   Analyze the potential impact of your proposed policy by doing the following:

a.   Explain how the desired results will optimize health in the community.

b.   Discuss the financial costs and benefits of the proposed policy.

c.   Discuss two ethical implications of the proposed policy on the population.


4.   Describe actual or potential barriers to the implementation of your policy.

5.   Explain what methods of communication you will use to introduce the policy to the policy maker(s) and educate them on the anticipated effectiveness of the proposed policy change on the SDOH in the community.

6.   Describe the potential results of inaction.


Executive Summary


C.   Write an executive summary to begin your policy brief by doing the following:

1.   Summarize the context and scope of the chosen SDOH in your community.

2.   Summarize how your proposed policy will address the SDOH in your community.

3.   Propose a persuasive course of action for the policy makers to address the policy change.


Reflection


D.   Write a reflection statement that includes the following:

1.   Describe how you were a change agent in creating this policy brief.

2.   Discuss the knowledge and skills you need to develop to continue influencing policy development decision-making.


References 


E.   Create a References section for your policy brief using APA style.


F.   Acknowledge sources, using APA-formatted in-text citations, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.


G.   Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.


NOTE: The Performance Assessment should be uploaded as a separate attachment(s) and should not be included in the E-portfolio or submitted as a link.

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