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 sailors 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.
To Prepare:
Review the agenda priorities of
the current/sitting U.S. president and at least one previous
presidential administration.
Select an issue related to healthcare that was
addressed by two U.S. presidential administrations (current and previous).
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.
Use your Week 1 Discussion post to help with this
assignment.
The Assignment: (1.5-page Comparison Grid,
1-Page Analysis, and 1-page narrative) with a title page. This is an APA paper.
Use 2-3 course resources and at least 2 outside resources.
art 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 previous president, and their
agendas related to the population health concern you selected. Be sure to
address the following:
Identify and provide a brief description of the
population health concern you selected.
Explain how each of the presidential administrations
approached the issue.
Identify the allocation of resources that the
presidents dedicated to this 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 (like HHS, CDC, FDA, OHSA)
would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare
issue you selected and why is this agency the most helpful for the issue?
How do you think your selected healthcare issue might
get on the presidential agenda? How does it stay there?
An entrepreneur/champion/sponsor helps to move the
issue forward. Who would you choose to be the
entrepreneur/champion/sponsor (this can be a celebrity, a legislator, an
agency director, or others) of the healthcare issue you selected and why
would this person be a good entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor? An example is
Michael J. Fox is champion for Parkinsons disease.
Part 3: Fact Sheet
Using the information recorded on the template
in Parts 1 and 2, develop a 1-page fact sheet that you could use to communicate
with a policymaker/legislator or a member of their staff for this healthcare
issue. 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.