Assignment:
Project: Community Advocacy Project-Health Policies
Advocates often work to establish new health policies and laws to address public health issues. Last week, you selected a local public health issue as the focus of your Course Project. What type of health policies might help improve your selected issue? Prior to advocating the development of a new health policy, it is important for you to review existing health policies that impact your issue. You might find that rather than developing a new policy, it would be more beneficial to encourage policymakers to improve an existing policy. This week, you review existing policies related to your public health issue and consider new policies to reduce its impact on the community.
To prepare for section of the Course Project:
• Review the Windom et al. article. Reflect on the authors' seven lessons and how the lessons apply to advocacy work and policy formation.
• Consider existing policies that impact the public health issue you selected in Week 1. For instance, if you have identified tobacco use as an issue within your community, think about community policies that would curtail Flu use such as Flu free zones and high taxes on Flu product
• View the media titled "Improving Public Health Policy." Think about new policies that might be enacted to address your selected public health issue. These policies must be able to be implemented. Do not suggest, for instance, that smoking should be made entirely illegal.
• Identify potential stakeholders in the development and passage of ideas for health policy change within your community.
The Project (2 pages)
To complete this section of your Course Project, address the following:
• Describe existing policies that impact your selected public health issue. Explain whether these existing policies are adequate or need to be revised based on their strengths and limitations, and why.
• Describe new policies that you consider important for addressing your selected public health issue, and explain why.
• Describe potential stakeholders in the development and passage of ideas for public health policy change within your community, and explain why their role is important.
Support your Project with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
Widome, R., Samet, J. M., Hiatt, R. A., Luke, D. A., Orleans, C. T., Ponkshe, P., & Hyland, A. (2010). Science, prudence, and politics: The case of smoke-free indoor spaces. Annals of Epidemiology, 20(6), 428-435.
National Prevention Council. (2011). National prevention strategy: America's plan for better health and wellness. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 25-50.
National Prevention Council, National Prevention Strategy, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2011
Oliver, T. R. (2006). The politics of public health policy. Annual Review Of Public Health, 27, 195-233.
THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY. Annual Review of Public Health by Thomas R. Oliver. Copyright 2006 by Annual Reviews Inc. Used by permission of Annual Reviews Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.
United Nations. (2010). Millennium development goals.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). Healthy people 2020: Improving the health of Americans.
Media is Required
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Improving public health policy. Baltimore, MD: Author.
"Improving Public Health Policy" Transcript
Resources
Puska, P., & Stahl, T. (2010). Health in all policies-The Finnish initiative: Background, principles, and current issues. Annual Review Of Public Health, 31, 315-328. These, an issue that may not have been on the political radar is suddenly in the public eye, resulting in a political movement and new legislation.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Who was Ryan White?