25 Aug What is the policy lever—is it legislative, administrative, regulatory, other?
Signature Assignment: Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Health Policy
As you prepare your Signature Assignment this week, please keep in mind that for your Week 8 assignment, you will review and respond to the feedback provided for the Week 7 Signature Assignment. You will also reflect on the course content, concepts, and course competencies, and critically analyze and document how these elements impact and/or advance your career interests and degree program pathway. Use an annotated bibliography to support your ideas.
You will continue working with the policy you chose to implement in Week 6. You will utilize the policy analysis worksheet to examine whether the implemented policy is working in the desired way and the impact it is having on the organization.
Table: Policy Analysis: Key Questions
Framing Questions
· What is the policy lever—is it legislative, administrative, regulatory, other?
· What level of government or institution will implement?
· How does the policy work/operate? (e.g., is it mandatory? Will enforcement be necessary? How is it funded? Who is responsible for administering the policy?)
· What are the objectives of the policy?
· What is the legal landscape surrounding the policy (e.g., court rulings, constitutionality)?
· What is the historical context (e.g., has the policy been debated previously)?
· What are the experiences of other jurisdictions?
· What is the value-added of the policy?
· What are the expected short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes?
· What might be the unintended positive and negative consequences of the policy?
Criteria
Questions
Public Health Impact: Potential for the policy to impact risk factors, quality of life, disparities, morbidity and mortality
· How does the policy address the problem or issue (e.g., increase access, protect from exposure)?
· What are the magnitude, reach, and distribution of benefit and burden (including impact on risk factor, quality of life, morbidity and mortality)?
· What population(s) will benefit? How much? When?
· What population(s) will be negatively impacted? How much? When?
· Will the policy impact health disparities / health equity? How?
· Are there gaps in the data/evidence-base?
Feasibility*: Likelihood that the policy can be successfully adopted and implemented
Political
· What are the current political forces, including political history, environment, and policy debate?
· Who are the stakeholders, including supporters and opponents? What are their interests and values?
· What are the potential social, educational, and cultural perspectives associated with the policy option (e.g., lack of knowledge, fear of change, force of habit)?
· What are the potential impacts of the policy on other sectors and high priority issues (e.g., sustainability, economic impact)?
Operational
· What are the resource, capacity, and technical needs developing, enacting, and implementing the policy?
· How much time is needed for the policy to be enacted, implemented, and enforced?
· How scalable, flexible, and transferable is the policy?
Economic and budgetary impacts: Comparison of the costs to enact, implement, and enforce the policy with the value of the benefits
Budget
· What are the costs and benefits associated with the policy, from a budgetary perspective?
· e.g., for public (federal, state, local) and private entities to enact, implement, and enforce the policy?
Economic
· How do costs compare to benefits (e.g., cost-savings, costs averted, ROI, cost- effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis, etc.)?
· How are costs and benefits distributed (e.g., for individuals, businesses, government)?
· What is the timeline for costs and benefits?
· Where are there gaps in the data/evidence-base?
Centers for Disease Control (CDC). (2021, March 1). Policy analysis: key questions
Length: 10-12 pages utilizing the provided template, not including title or reference pages.
References: Include a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed sources. Other scholarly and credible sources may also be used as supplemental support.
