Policy and Advocacy Discussion Essay
Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief
It may seem to you that healthcare has been a national topic of debate among political leaders for as long as you can remember.
Healthcare has been a policy item and a topic of debate not only in recent times but as far back as the administration of the second U.S. president, John Adams. In 1798, Adams signed legislation requiring that 20 cents per month of a sailor’s paycheck be set aside for covering their medical bills. This represented the first major piece of U.S. healthcare legislation, and the topic of healthcare has been woven into presidential agendas and political debate ever since.
As a healthcare professional, you may be called upon to provide expertise, guidance and/or opinions on healthcare matters as they are debated for inclusion into new policy. You may also be involved in planning new organizational policy and responses to changes in legislation. For all of these reasons you should be prepared to speak to national healthcare issues making the news.
In this Assignment, you will analyze recent presidential healthcare agendas. You also will prepare a fact sheet to communicate the importance of a healthcare issue and the impact on this issue of recent or proposed policy. Policy and Advocacy Discussion Essay
To Prepare:
Review the agenda priorities of the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidential administrations.
Select an issue related to healthcare that was addressed by each of the last three U.S. presidential administrations.
Reflect on the focus of their respective agendas, including the allocation of financial resources for addressing the healthcare issue you selected.
Consider how you would communicate the importance of a healthcare issue to a legislator/policymaker or a member of their staff for inclusion on an agenda.
The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Comparison Grid, 1-Page Analysis, and 1-page Fact Sheet)
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
Use the Agenda Comparison Grid Template found in the Learning Resources and complete the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid based on the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidential administrations and their agendas related to the public health concern you selected. Be sure to address the following:
Identify and provide a brief description of the population health concern you selected and the factors that contribute to it.
Describe the administrative agenda focus related to the issue you selected.
Identify the allocations of financial and other resources that the current and two previous presidents dedicated to this issue.
Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue.
Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis
Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid on the template, complete the Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis portion of the template, by addressing the following:
Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?
How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the agenda for the current and two previous presidents? How does it stay there?
Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected for the current and two previous presidents?
Part 3: Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief
Using the information recorded on the template in Parts 1 and 2, develop a 1-page Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief that you could use to communicate with a policymaker/legislator or a member of their staff for this healthcare issue. You can use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to create your Fact Sheet or Talking Point Brief. Be sure to address the following:
Summarize why this healthcare issue is important and should be included in the agenda for legislation.
Justify the role of the nurse in agenda setting for healthcare issues.
By Day 7 of Week 2
Submit your final version of Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis, and Part 3: Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 2 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 2 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than 5 days to provide you with quality feedback. Policy and Advocacy Discussion Essay
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Policy and Advocacy Discussion
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
| Population Health concern | Mental health disorder (Depression) | ||
| Description of the Selected Population Health concern | Depression is among the most prevalent mental health disorders in America. It is also among the leading cause of death among the young population in the US, through suicide. According to Lim et al (2018), depression can severely impair the ability of a person to perform major activities of daily life. Depression is also associated with the risk of individuals committing suicide, and untreated depression can result in more serious conditions such as dementia, hypertension, and cardiovascular conditions (Lim et al., 2018).
Factors that contribute to depression involve an intricate interaction of psychological, biological, and social factors. Individuals who have experienced adverse life events such as bereavements, loss of employment, and traumas have a higher likelihood of developing depression. depression can cause increased stress, agony, and dysfunction and thus make worse the life situation of the affected individual (Guo et al., 2018). This highlights the importance of addressing the health issue of depression because of the associated adverse effects, especially the high rate of deaths through suicide among people with depression. As a result, mental health disorders like depression have attracted the attention of several American presidents, and the majority of them have taken steps to facilitate access to the treatment of mental health disorders like depression. |
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| Administration (President Name) | Current President | Previous President | Previous President |
| (President Name) | Donald Trump | Barack Obama | George W Bush |
| The administrative agenda focus | President Donald came up with a healthcare bill that improved the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The administration of President Trump implemented steps to reduce the amount of Medicaid that allows the insurance plan to cover substance use and mental, which is particularly essential for low-income earners (Field, 2018). |
President Obama implemented the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that allowed Medicaid to support individuals with mental health disorders and people with disabilities.
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President Bush saw the implementation of the Addictions Equity Act and the Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity. These laws covered health insurance and supported the treatment of mental health conditions and substance abuse, through insurance plans. President Bush also signed the Medicare Modernization Act in 2003. Bush also supported the creation of a health saving account where individuals with mental health conditions were able to access the health saving scheme (Field, 2018).
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| Funds and resources allocations | In the financial year 2019, the funds allocated to mental health and substance abuse was decreased by $600 million. However, President Trump has allocated $500 million for the development of a new healthcare system.
With the reduced funds, this has affected the access to mental health treatment especially for low-income earners who mostly rely on ACA and Medicaid (Field, 2018). |
In the year 2008/2009, President Obama proposed $500 million for use in the care and treatment of mental health disorders. Early identification facilitates the timely treatment of mental health issues.
President Obama developed a health care plan that assisted the rationalization of the healthcare subdivision (mental health) (Field, 2018).
|
None
President Bush managed to make a major breakthrough in the way mental health issues were handled and addressed by the healthcare system in the US. Through Medicaid, president Bush through his government was able to improve access to healthcare, including mental care for low-income earners (Field, 2018). |
Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis
The administrative agency that would best help in addressing mental health issues is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC focuses on the prevention of mental health disorders and reducing their impact through early detection, and implementing evidence-based interventions (Ekwueme et al., 2019). CDC conducts researches to assess the incidence, impact, and severity of mental health disorders and comes up with evidence-based interventions effective in preventing adverse impacts allied to mental health disorders. Additionally, CDC shares effective interventions to treat mental health problems and monitors the efficacy of the implemented interventions in the treatment of mental disorders (Ekwueme et al., 2019). Therefore, CDC would play a significant role in addressing mental health issues such a depression. Policy and Advocacy Discussion Essay
The selected issue of depression can on the agenda of the presidents and be sustained through policy. Through policies, nurses can influence practice standards to improve care provision. Policies also influence the allocation of resources to support the provision of care (Arabi et al., 2014). Therefore, in this case, it would be appropriate to partner with organizations such as the CDC and politicians and legislators to drum the support of better access to mental healthcare at the legislative level. I would choose a politician to champion the selected healthcare issue regarding improved access to mental healthcare for people with depression. A politician would significantly influence support of the issue, especially in the Congress house where important policies are endorsed. As Obama (2016) explains the need for quality and accessible healthcare should be recognized by politicians to ensure the issue is considered through legislation and is prioritized as a part of the government’s agenda.
Talking Points Brief
Depression is a very serious mental health problem that is affecting a high number of Americans, especially the youths. Additionally, depression has severe effects including death and development of health conditions such as hypertension and cardiovascular problems. Depression also significantly reduces the quality of life including impairing the ability of the affected individuals to function normally in their occupations and academic life (Lim et al., 2018).
However, despite the adverse effects associated with depression, access to mental health care is still low due to a lack of an adequate number of mental health practitioners, costly treatment, and the stigma associated with mental disorders like depression (Sarzynski & Barry, 2019). Additionally, the reimbursement rate from the insurance firms for mental health practitioners is relatively low when compared to the reimbursement rate for other practitioners such as physicians (Barnes et al., 2017). This significantly contributes to the unavailability of an adequate number of providers to provide mental health care.
Despite the severity of depression and similar mental health problems, as well as the low access to mental health treatment, the health issue has not received adequate attention from the government. Therefore, there is a need to prioritize depression and ensure that the mental disorder is addressed through policy. Such a policy should support increased access to mental health treatment. Politicians and legislators would play an important role in facilitating the endorsement of such a policy.
References
Arabi, A., Rafii, F., Cheraghi, M. A., & Ghiyasvandian, S. (2014). Nurses’ policy influence: A concept analysis. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 19(3), 315–322.
Barnes, H., Maier, C. B., Altares Sarik, D., Germack, H. D., Aiken, L. H., & McHugh, M. D. (2017). Effects of Regulation and Payment Policies on Nurse Practitioners’ Clinical Practices. Medical care research and review: MCRR, 74(4), 431–451.
Ekwueme, D. U., Lunsford, N. B., Khushalani, J. S., & Rim, S. H. (2019). Public Health Efforts to Address Mental Health Conditions Among Cancer Survivors. American journal of public health, 109(S3), S179–S180. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305198.
Field R. (2018). Books: The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President: Assessing Dangerousness. The British journal of general practice: the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 68(675), 490. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X699269.
Guo, N., Robakis, T., Miller, C., & Butwick, A. (2018). Prevalence of Depression Among Women of Reproductive Age in the United States. Obstetrics and gynecology, 131(4), 671–679.
Lim, G. Y., Tam, W. W., Lu, Y., Ho, C. S., Zhang, M. W., & Ho, R. C. (2018). Prevalence of Depression in the Community from 30 Countries between 1994 and 2014. Scientific reports, 8(1), 2861.
Obama B. (2016). The United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps. JAMA, 316(5), 525–532. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.9797.
Sarzynski, E., & Barry, H. (2019). Current Evidence and Controversies: Advanced Practice Providers in Healthcare. The American journal of managed care, 25(8), 366-368.
