Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal

Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal

Efforts to preserve the lives of persons living with depressive disorders have targeted screening, patient management, and community awareness programs. The effectiveness of these measures in reducing morbidities and mortalities attributable to depressive disorders remains a question. Quality of care provision for patients presenting with depression and other mental disorders has also remained a concern. Policy provisions that are targeted at bridging the gap in care provision for this group are therefore necessary.

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Policy Proposal

Institution of mental healthcare professionals in primary healthcare can produce benefits to patients visiting these care centers. Primary healthcare remains a significant component of care provision, accounting for more than half of all initial hospital visits (van den Muijsenbergh & van Weel, 2019). Co-location of mental healthcare professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers at these points of care may enhance access to their services to patients who need them at these lower levels points of care. According to Unützer & Park (2017), the co-location of healthcare professionals to primary healthcare provides additional benefits in care optimization in this group of patients. It is for this reason that policies should be postulated that ensure the co-location of healthcare professionals to primary healthcare. In this policy provision, all primary healthcare settings will have at least one mental healthcare professional whose role will be to take care of persons presenting with mental health disorders as well as promote mental health awareness within these societies.

Need for the Policy on the Target Population

Various measures have been utilized in the management of depression and other mental health disorders. Measures towards managing these disorders have been elaborate and expansive, drawing many players within the healthcare sector (Gillam, 2017). Even with these expansive measures, significant morbidities and mortalities are continuously being realized across the U.S. and globally. Management interventions for these patients have utilized screening, health promotion, and treatment. Pharmacotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic interventions have constantly produced better results in the management of these disorders (Guidi & Fava, 2021). Improving access to care is, therefore, necessary in the management of these disorders. Co-locating mental health professionals to primary levels of care is a forward step towards enhancing access to care. It should, therefore, be the responsibility of governments and various healthcare systems to facilitate the co-location of these professionals to the lower levels of care. The benefits of this co-location will be evident in the enhanced care provision process to all patients with depressive disorders, improved access to mental health specialists, and overall enhancement of clinical outcomes for these patients.

Interprofessional Approach

Management of mental health disorders requires interprofessional collaboration in the design of treatment plans for patients presenting with these disorders. Mental health professionals are a diverse group that consists of social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. These disciplines also work in concert with other healthcare providers, such as pharmacists, nurses, and doctors. Integration of healthcare professionals into primary healthcare settings requires that these disciplines work collaboratively towards promoting the welfare of their patients. Successful implementation of this policy will require that these groups work in concert with each other in screening, diagnosis, treating, and promoting the health of these individuals.

An interprofessional approach to managing depressive disorders at the primary level of care will also enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of care interventions for patients presenting with depressive disorders. A collaborative approach in care provision ensures an expansive coverage which in turn ensures that more patients are screened for depression (Vlasveld et al., 2017). The collaborative approach also ensures that accurate diagnosis and management interventions are done on the patients, thereby ensuring better clinical outcomes. For successful integration, all care providers at this point should clearly define their roles in the management of these disorders. Role ambiguity often impedes care and has been implicated in poor care outcomes.

Management strategies for depression have not been sufficient in curtailing the rise in morbidity and mortality attributable to the disorder. Policies that enhance access to care are necessary for bridging the gap in care provision. Co-locating mental health professionals to primary levels of care is such a policy described above. The benefits of this policy would be evident in enhanced outcomes for the patients.

 References

Gillam, T. (2017). Managing depression: an overview. Primary Health Care, 14(2), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.7748/phc2004.03.14.2.43.c492

Guidi, J., & Fava, G. (2021). Sequential Combination of Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy in Major Depressive Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(3), 261. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.3650

Unützer, J., & Park, M. (2017). Strategies to Improve the Management of Depression in Primary Care. Primary Care: Clinics In Office Practice, 39(2), 415-431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pop.2012.03.010

van den Muijsenbergh, M., & van Weel, C. (2019). The Essential Role of Primary Care Professionals in Achieving Health for All. The Annals Of Family Medicine, 17(4), 293-295. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2436

Vlasveld, M., Anema, J., Beekman, A., van Mechelen, W., Hoedeman, R., & van Marwijk, H. et al. (2017). Multidisciplinary Collaborative Care for Depressive Disorder in the Occupational Health Setting: design of a randomized controlled trial and cost-effectiveness study. BMC Health Services Research, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-8-99

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Assessment 2 Instructions: Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal
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Develop a 2-4 page proposal for a policy that should help to improve health care and outcomes for your target population.

Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal

Introduction
Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

Cost and access to care continue to be main concerns for patients and providers. As technology improves our ability to care for and improve outcomes in patients with chronic and complex illnesses, questions of cost and access become increasingly important. As a master ’s-prepared nurse, you must be able to develop policies that will ensure the delivery of care that is effective and can be provided in an ethical and equitable manner.

As a master’s-prepared nurse, you have a valuable viewpoint and voice with which to advocate for policy developments. As a nurse leader and health care practitioner, often on the front lines of helping individuals and populations, you are able to articulate and advocate for the patient more than any other professional group in health care. This is especially true of populations that may be underserved, underrepresented, or are otherwise lacking a voice. By advocating for and developing policies, you are able to help drive improvements in outcomes for specific populations. The policies you advocate for could be internal ones (just within a specific department or health care setting) that ensure quality care and compliance. Or they could be external policies (local, state, or federal) that may have more wide-ranging effects on best practices and regulations.

Preparation
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.

What are the relevant best practices from a population health standpoint (cultural competence, disease prevention, and interventions) for your chosen health issue and vulnerable population?
How are these best practices relevant to your chosen health issue and vulnerable population?
Do the best practices make any reference to standards of care or benchmarks that should be achieved?
How could these best practices be leveraged to help inform or develop a policy and guidelines to improve care and outcomes for the vulnerable population you are working with?
How could technology be used to identify health concerns or collect data that could help health care practitioners determine which health care issues to focus on in a population?
What are the relevant laws, regulations, or policies for employing any of the technology you might find useful?
What type of policy and guidelines would be most likely to ensure improvements in care and outcomes related to your chosen health issue and vulnerable population?
Are there any policies in existence that could help inform your own policy development?
How might your proposed policy and guidelines influence the way in which care is accessed?
How might your proposed policy and guidelines influence the amount of access that is available?
Assessment 2 will build on the health issue, vulnerable population, and position that you started to develop in the first assessment. For Assessment 2, you will develop a proposal for a policy and a set of guidelines that could be implemented to ensure improvements in care and outcomes. Refer to the resource listed below:

Guiding Questions: Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal [DOC].
Scenario
The analysis of position papers that your interprofessional team presented to the committee has convinced them that it would be worth the time and effort to develop a new policy to address your specific issue in the target population. To that end, your interprofessional team has been asked to submit a policy proposal that outlines a specific approach to improving the outcomes for your target population. This proposal should be supported by evidence and best practices that illustrate why the specific approaches are likely to be successful. Additionally, you have been asked to address the ways in which applying your policy to interprofessional teams could lead to efficiency or effectiveness gains.

Instructions
For this assessment you will develop a policy proposal that seeks to improve the outcomes for the health care issue and target population you addressed in Assessment 1. If for some reason you wish to change your specific issue and/or target population, contact your FlexPath faculty.

The bullet points below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your submission addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal Scoring Guide and Guiding Questions: Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal [DOC] to better understand how each grading criterion will be assessed.

Propose a policy and guidelines that will lead to improved outcomes and quality of care for a specific issue in a target population.
Advocate the need for a proposed policy in the context of current outcomes and quality of care for a specific issue in a target population.
Analyze the potential for an interprofessional approach to implementing a proposed policy to increase the efficiency or effectiveness of the care setting to achieve high-quality outcomes.
Communicate proposal in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.
Example Assessment: You may use the assessment example, linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Additional Requirements
Length of proposal: 2-4 double-spaced, typed pages, not including title page or reference list. Your proposal should be succinct yet substantive.
Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3-5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that supports the relevance of or need for your policy, as well as interprofessional considerations. Resources should be no more than five years old.
APA formatting: The APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] will help you in writing and formatting your analysis.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Design evidence-based advanced nursing care for achieving high-quality population outcomes.
Propose a policy and guidelines that will lead to improved outcomes and quality of care for a specific issue in a target population.
Competency 2: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of interprofessional interventions in achieving desired population health outcomes.
Analyze the potential for an interprofessional approach to implementing a proposed policy to increase the efficiency or effectiveness of the care setting to achieve high quality outcomes.
Competency 3: Analyze population health outcomes in terms of their implications for health policy advocacy.
Advocate the need for a proposed policy in the context of current outcomes and quality of care for a specific issue in a target population.
Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
Communicate proposal in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.