The Impact of Policy

The Impact of Policy

In the United States, decisions that will affect the public in sectors, such as healthcare, are decided by the ruling party at the time. As the country has two ruling parties, Democrats and Republicans, policy decisions are usually decided mostly by the party that has the largest number of Senators. Therefore, if there is a need to urgently formulate a public health policy, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, the party with the largest Senator numbers will influence the outcome of the decision being debated (Whitlock, 2020). Therefore, for this reason, the United States federal government experiences a challenge in ensuring equitable decision-making.

Researchers use their skills to advocate for better policy-making so as to help their target population. For instance, if the current healthcare policy promotes under-assistance for patients in rural areas and favours those in urban regions, the researcher will advocate for better treatment of the former convalescent group. For the researcher to achieve their mentioned goal, they will need to acquire facts about the issue that the current policy fails to address using their skills and knowledge (The California Endowment, 2006). After acquiring these facts, the researcher will need to formulate a problem from the collected facts and then rally support for the government to address these concerns.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments panicked because the citizens in their countries were being affected by the illness in vast numbers. Patient populations kept spiking, even though efforts to mitigate the same were in place, such as emphasis on wearing of masks. It was this pressure that caused governments to task researchers with assessing effective mechanisms that could be used to limit the spread of COVID-19 (Whitlock, 2020). In the end, the researchers recommended that policies, such as mandatory social distancing in public spaces be instituted. Today, COVID-19 cases in the world are declining because of the social distancing policy that was supported by research efforts.

References

The California Endowment. (2006). Advocating for Change: Understanding How to Impact Health Policy. https://uniteforreprorights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AFC_Manual_01.pdf

Whitlock, R. (2020, September 15). Health policy 2021: How a democratic win could change the playing Field. McDermott+Consulting. https://www.mcdermottplus.com/insights/health-policy-2021-how-a-democratic-win-could-change-the-playing-field/

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The Impact of Policy

Primary Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 300–500 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions with your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

For this Discussion Board, please complete the following:

Think about how policy affects every aspect of what an employee does at work.

The policy is often difficult to change. The reason is that policy refers to the laws that healthcare professionals live by in the healthcare world. Consider the role that policy plays in the day-to-day activities of a healthcare employee. In addition, consider that they often rely on data collected to ensure that the correction that they make to policy follows the evidence. Explore the following articles for a deep perspective on the topics of policy and politics and how they are interwoven:

Understanding How to Impact Health Policy
Health Policy 2021: How a Democratic Win Could Change the Playing Field
For this assignment, respond to the following:

Discuss why this process must be difficult to be equitable in the form of representative government in the United States.
Explain the role of research and how it affects the policy analysis process.
Provide a specific example of how research helped develop or change a health-related policy.
Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-200 word reply about his or her Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening.