Health Policy, Politics, and Perspectives

Guidelines for the Health Policy Event Assignment

In Weeks 2–7, you must attend a policy event that is at least approximately 1 hour or longer in length and related to the week’s topic. Links to virtual health policy events are posted for each weekly module. You may choose your own policy event. Please note that all events must have a health policy focus and be relevant to the week’s topics. Events that have primarily a clinical focus are not acceptable. Because events must be relevant to current health policy issues, they should have taken place within the past 2 years. If you have questions about the topic of an event or are interested in one that is older than 2 years, check with your instructor first to make sure the event meets the criteria for this assignment.

You may also select a health policy event not listed in the assignment links, which can be virtual or in person. For example, you may consider a local Board of Health meeting; a legislative or executive branch hearing or meeting on a health policy issue; a meeting by advocacy organization or special interest group; or a meeting of a political party, political group, or political candidate in which a health policy issue is discussed.

Policy Log Guidelines

As a way of demonstrating completion of this course requirement, you must submit, in writing, a policy log that details certain aspects of each event. Please refer to the Grading Rubric for this assignment.

• Each event log should be 2–3 double-spaced pages of text.
• Provide only a brief summary of the topic being discussed (200-400 words).
• Your analysis section should be 500 to 750 words and be the most developed component of the report. Do NOT repeat what participants say in this section. The analysis should include new information that goes beyond what was discussed in the event by the participants. You will need to research the key policy being discussed at the event. Your analysis should integrate course content and readings. Reference at least two sources, with at least one source from the learning materials in this course. Other sources may include scholarly sources, health policy reports, or recent media articles.
• Use APA format for citations and references.

Use the TEMPLATE FOR THE HEALTH POLICY EVENT for your submission, which contains the following elements:

Details of the event:

• Name, date, sponsor, length, and link to the event
• Names of participants and their titles

Brief summary of the event discussion (200-400 words)

Description of how this event relates to the current week’s topic (100–200 words)

Analysis of the health policy issue and its implications for health care (500–750 words). Use the following headings and address these questions in your analysis. (You are likely to have to research some of these questions, because they may not be discussed in the forum.)

• What is the key policy issue being discussed?
• Who are the stakeholders/organizations taking a position on the policy?
• What are the politics of the policy? (How are the government, stakeholders, and political parties involved, if at all?)