NURS: Policy and Advocacy Paper
NURS: Policy and Advocacy Paper
Module 1
Required Readings
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
· Chapter 1, “Informing Public Policy: An Important Role for Registered Nurses” (pp. 11–13 only)
· Chapter 2, “Agenda Setting: What Rises to a Policymaker’s Attention?” (pp. 17–36)
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· Chapter 10, “Overview: The Economics and Finance of Health Care” (pp. 171–180)
· Chapter 12, “An Insider’s Guide to Engaging in Policy Activities”
· “Creating a Fact Sheet” (pp. 217-221)
DeMarco, R., & Tufts, K. A. (2014). The mechanics of writing a policy brief. Nursing Outlook, 62(3), 219–224. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2014.04.002
Kingdon, J. W. (2001). A model of agenda-setting, with applications. Law Review, M.S.U.-D.C.L., 2(331). Retrieved from https://cursos.campusvirtualsp.org/mod/resource/view.php?id=16070
Lamb, G., Newhouse, R., Beverly, C., Toney, D. A., Cropley, S., Weaver, C. A., Kurtzman, E., … Peterson, C. (2015). Policy agenda for nurse-led care coordination. Nursing Outlook, 63(4), 521–530. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2015.06.003
O’Rourke, N. C., Crawford, S. L., Morris, N. S., & Pulcini, J. (2017). Political efficacy and participation of nurse practitioners. Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, 18(3), 135–148. doi:10.1177/1527154417728514
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Enhancing Environmental Health Content in Nursing Practice, Pope, A. M., Snyder, M. A., & Mood, L. H. (Eds.). (n.d.). Nursing health, & environment: Strengthening the relationship to improve the public’s health. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
USA.gov. (n.d.). A-Z index of U.S. government departments and agencies. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/a
HYPERLINK “https://www.usa.gov/executive-departments” \o “Executive departments” \t “_blank”
USA.gov. (n.d.). Executive departments. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.usa.gov/executive-departments
HYPERLINK “https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-trump-administration/the-cabinet/” \o “The cabinet” \t “_blank”
The White House. (n.d.). The cabinet. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-trump-administration/the-cabinet/
Document: Agenda Comparison Grid Template (Word document)
Required Media
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Setting the Agenda [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
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. NURS: Policy and Advocacy Paper
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 will also 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 last three U.S. 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: (2- to 3-page Comparison Grid and 1-page Fact Sheet)
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
Based on the presidential administrations you are comparing, complete the Agenda Comparison Grid. Be sure to address the following:
· Identify and provide a brief description of the healthcare issue you selected.
· Identify which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected.
· How does the healthcare issue get on the agenda and how does it stay there?
· Who was the entrepreneur/champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected?
Part 2: Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief
Based on your Agenda Comparison Grid for the healthcare issue you selected, 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. 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. NURS: Policy and Advocacy Paper
Agenda Comparison Grid Template
Use this document to complete the Module 1 Assessment Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheets/Talking Points Brief .
| Healthcare Issue |
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| Description | |||
| Administration (President Name) |
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| Describe the administrative agenda focus related to this issue | |||
| Allocation of financial and other resources to this issue | |||
| Notes on Administration’s approach to the issue | |||
| General Notes/Comments
|
Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?
How does the healthcare issue get on the agenda and how does it stay there?
Who was the entrepreneur/champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected?
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 2
Use this document to complete the Module 1 Assessment Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheets/Talking Points Brief .
| Healthcare Issue | Mental Health Services for Americans
|
||
| Description | Americans are not receiving adequate mental health treatment/services due to several factors: lack of insurance or insurance without mental health coverage, severe disabilities, overall costs, lack of access to treatment where they live, and/or a shortage of Mental Health professionals, to name a few. | ||
| Administration (President Name) | Bill Clinton – (1993-2001) | Barack Obama – (2009-2017) | Donald Trump – (2017 – Present) |
| Describe the administrative agenda focus related to this issue | In 1996, Clinton signed the first limited mental health parity law (MHPA), which was intended to begin addressing the issues in mental illness coverage. He understood there was a distinct deficit in Americans’ access to Mental Health services. Then in 1999, he hosted a White House Conference on Mental Health in effort to relay to the country that we need to reduce the stigma around mental illness. | In 2010, Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which apparently extended mental health parity to Medicaid managed care plans and to qualified health plans. In 2011, he signed the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2010, which increased federal support of housing resources for individuals with mental illness and/or other disabilities. In 2013, the White House hosted a National Conference on Mental Health and launched the National Dialogue on Mental Health. In 2016, a new $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care was proposed. | Trump proposes to redistribute funds would “gut Medicaid” and focus on the opioid crisis, as well as reversing drug overdose (Weerasingle, 2017). He aims to drastically reduce Medicaid reimbursements, which will deter preventative services, especially for those living at the poverty level. He wants to enhance services for those with severe illness, and enhance suicide prevention for our Veterans. |
| Allocation of financial and other resources to this issue | The most important action for Mental Health taken by the Clinton administration was the signing and enactment of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA), resulting in more coverage be provided for mental illness; it was meant to ensure mental illness be considered as important as medical issues.
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President Obama, as he proposed a $500 million investment be allocated specifically to Mental Health. | Trump’s proposed Mental Health budget focuses on cutting Medicaid funding, which will reduce mental healthcare to young children/families, poverty-level, and those who are not proficient in English. It does provide more funding to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA), the CDC, the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, and towards veterans. |
| Notes on Administration’s approach to the issue | While Clinton did not allocate a lot of funding towards mental health, his enactment of the MHPA was extremely important to the field; at least he did acknowledge the need and did seemingly want to reduce the stigma to the field by hosting the White House Conference on Mental Health.
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Obama proposed a hefty allocation of funds be given to the field, but it would seem that his healthcare plan, the Affordable Care Act, is anything but affordable for Americans. | Trump is determining what aspects of mental health services he finds most important, and is allocating funds accordingly. While I believe that is a sensible approach considering our national debt, it would seem those who are already in need the most are not being prioritized. |
| General Notes/Comments
|
While all 3 administrations had specific approaches to the field of Mental Health, they all exercises acknowledgement of the field, and the needs that is there. That in itself is proof that mental health has came a long way, and if the administrations of our country see the need, then citizens need to also accept it and help reduce the stigma that exists. | (See Previous) | (See Previous) |
Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?
Mental health care is mainly funded by Medicaid and the VA, so the first agency to address this issue would likely be the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, or the CMS (MHA, 2017).
How does the healthcare issue get on the agenda and how does it stay there?
Healthcare issues may reach agendas on a government level, as well as in private organizations. Policies and practices may be changed at the organizational level by way of obtaining a grant. Participating in activities within regulatory agencies is another avenue for Nurse leaders and influencers of policies to help with solutions to problems. The agenda-setting model (the Kingdon Model), discusses 3 streams being all at play, which ideally lead to the ‘window of opportunity’ or ‘policy window’: the Problem, the Policy and the Politics streams (Kingdon, 2001).
The Iron Triange model an agenda-setting and policy-making which benefits all parties involved – legislators and their committees, interest groups and administrative agencies (Milstead & Short, 2019, p.17). NURS: Policy and Advocacy Paper
Who was the entrepreneur/champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected?
Mental Health Advocacy groups whom I would consider champions and/or sponsors include The Trevor Project, Man Therapy, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation, Big White Wall, Active Minds and Project Semicolon (Sukel, 2017).
References
Hart, J.W. (2016). How presidents have shaped mental health care. Retrieved from
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/February-2016/How-Presidents-Have-Shaped-Mental-Heaoth-Care
Kingdon, J.W. (2001). A model of agenda-setting, with applications. Law Review, M.S.U.-D.C.L. 2(331). Retrieved from
file:///Users/Amanda/Downloads/Kingdon_A_model_for_Agenda_Setting.pdf
Mental Health America. (2019). The Federal & State Role in Mental Health. Retrieved from
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/federal-and-state-role-mental-health
Milstead, J.A., & Short, N.M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett
Learning.
Sukel, K. (2017). 7 mental health advocacy groups making a difference. Retrieved from https://genesight.com/7-mental-
health-advocacy-groups-making-a-difference/
Weerasinghe, I. (2018). How Trump’s Budget Impacts Key Mental Health Services. Retrieved from
https://www.clasp.org/blog/how-trumps-budget-impacts-key-mental-health-services