MBA 512 - Health Policy Instructions for Policy Analysis Paper Assignment Description (from Syllabus): Students will conduct a formal policy analysis of a local public health problem identified by using the Community Health Status Indicators (2015) published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The analysis will be limited to 10-12 pages (double-spaced) and will follow the format and content guidelines presented in this document. Important Dates: Sunday, 6/19/2016: Submit to the instructor the health policy issue for your analysis. Your submission should include state, county, and community health status indicator (see instructions below). This information is due to the instructor by midnight. Sunday, 7/3/2016: Problem statement due to the instructor by midnight Sunday, 7/31/2016: Final policy analysis due to the instructor by midnight Instructions A. Select a local public health problem For this assignment, we will use publically reported community health status indicators to select a real policy problem for our area. The indicators can be found at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/communityhealth ---------------------- About the Website (From the CDC) CHSI 2015 is an interactive web application that produces health profiles for all 3,143 counties in the United States. Each profile includes key indicators of health outcomes, which describe the population health status of a county and factors that have the potential to influence health outcomes, such as health care access and quality, health behaviors, social factors and the physical environment. The social factors and the physical environment are especially important because they represent the conditions in which people are born, work, and play. Neighborhoods with affordable healthy food, safe and accessible housing, and quality employment opportunities can positively influence behaviors and help to create healthy lifestyles. The World Health Organization and others call the living conditions that can affect health and quality of life the \"social determinants of health\". Take a few minutes to review the information on the website and learn about the Community Health Status Indicator program. Then select a State and County and review measures for that location. 1 Select a state and county. Please limit your choice to a location that you are familiar with and are interested in reviewing indicators for the area. For our example, we'll look at Washington County, Maryland Community Health Status Indicators are presented in 5 domains: Mortality, Morbidity, Health Care Access and Quality, Health Behaviors, and Social Factors. Indicators are grouped into 3 columns (Better, Moderate, Worse) depending on the county's performance compared to similar locations. Definitions and listings of \"peer counties\" are available on the website. 2 Choose an indicator from the Worse column (indicating the county is worse than peer locations). If your county has no indicators in the Worse column, choose an indicator from the Moderate column. For our example, we choose the Female Life Expectancy measure. Washington County's performance in this measure is in the lowest quartile compared to peer counties across the nation. Clicking on the selected measure will bring up more detailed information about how the indicator is measured and Washington County's performance compared to peer counties. Submit your state, county and community health status indicator to your instructor by the due date provided above. You are now ready to begin your policy analysis. 3 B. Conduct a policy analysis For this assignment, conduct your policy analysis of a local community health problem using the 5step process described in Chapter 14 \"The Art of Structuring and Writing a Health Policy Analysis\" of the Teitelbaum & Wilensky text. 1. Develop the Problem Statement Define the problem using 12 sentences. The problem is often presented in the form of a question. Do not include recommendations in this section Submit your finalized problem statement to the instructor by the due date listed above. 2. Provide Background on the Policy Issue Provide facts and information to inform the reader why the problem is important and one that requires a policy intervention. 3. Discuss the Policy Landscape This section presents the important contextual factors that should be taken into account when considering potential policy options. At a minimum, a good landscape will.... identify key stakeholders and their perspectives concerning the problem discuss political, social, and economic factors associated with the problem 4. Conduct an Options Analysis (must be at least 3 with \"do nothing\" being one option) Use a Sidebyside table to compare options Identify strengths and weaknesses for each option Be sure to specify the criteria you used to evaluate options 5. Make and Justify a Recommendation Choose one of the options as the recommended course of action. YOU MUST CHOOSE AN OPTION Status quo (i.e. \"do nothing\" )may be an option Discuss why this option is better than the others despite the cons associated with the option Include actions that could be taken to minimize/reduce the impact of weaknesses C. Write the Policy Paper Format Guidelines The paper will contain a cover page that includes the title, student name, and course information Paper will be organized by the following headings: Introduction, Problem Statement, Background, Policy Landscape, Options Analysis, Recommendation, and Conclusion The body of the paper will be between 1012 pages; not including the cover page and references. The paper will be doublespaced and appropriately referenced using APA 6th edition standards. All papers must be submitted in electronic form (preferable in Word) 4