Health Policy and Health Promotion Samples
Sample 1
Describe what specific resources or federal agencies that you will utilize to remain informed and current in public health trends and practices.
Among the imperative goals of advanced nurse practitioners (ANP) is the need to stay abreast with global health trends and practices. Having current information regarding nursing practice ensures that ANPs remain relevant and valuable, and capable of administering advanced healthcare services with great benefits to the patients (Alving, Christensen & Thrysøe, 2017). Arguably, numerous resources and federal agencies exist that can help ANPs stay informed with global trends and practices in the respective fields. Among these include the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institute of Health (NIH), etc.
With the global population currently battling the COVID-19 pandemic, such platforms as WHO, CDC and HHS have been crucial in providing up-to-date information regarding different aspects of the pandemic both domestically and on the international platform. For instance, with the roll-out of vaccines for public administration, one can easily track COVID-19 vaccinations in the US through the CDC’s COVID data tracker, which currently shows that while about 55 million doses have been distributed, only 33 million doses have been administered (CDC, 2021). Learning about the vaccine reach in the country helps us understand the extent to which the country’s response mechanism is delivering on the projected goals.
The agencies also provide ANPs with vital information and data regarding different emergent and existing diseases, their dynamics as well as interventions so far taken to manage them. For instance, an ANP can obtain critical information regarding such diseases as Ebola, Influenza, Hepatitis and Corona Viruses, among others, from the WHO website. Case in point is the WHO continuous updates on clinical management of COVID-19.
In its last review and update of the said guidelines, the WHO (2021) recommended the conditional use of thromboprophylaxis dosing of anticoagulation as opposed to intermediate or therapeutic dosing among hospitalized patients. Such information and the accompanying easy access boosts collaboration among different practitioners on the national and global platform, thus ensuring better health outcomes for patients.
References
- Alving, B. E., Christensen, J. B. & Thrysøe, L. (2017). Hospital nurses’ information retrieval behaviors in relation to evidence based nursing: A literature review. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 35(1), 3-23. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12204
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. (2021, February 3). COVID-19 data tracker. Retrieved February 4, 2021 from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
- World Health Organization, WHO. (2021, January 25). COVID-19 clinical management: Living guidance. Retrieved February 4, 2021 from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-clinical-2021-1
Sample 2
Date:
The Honorable ________
Office Address:
United States House of Representatives/United State Senate
City, State, Zip
Dear Representative/Senator ______________:
This letter calls your attention to challenges with the current national strategies for managing childhood obesity. Evidently, caring for pediatric patients gives an insight into the maladies that children face. One of the conditions that have been on the rise in the recent past is malnutrition, and particularly obesity in children. Skinner et al. (2018) report that 41.5% of children between ages 16-19 years battle obesity with about 4% of such cases having Body Mass Index (BMI) more than 40.
Because such individuals tend to present with multiple issues, including coronary artery disease (CAD), instituting appropriate health policies is necessary for the management of this condition. These policies not only focus on recommending a healthy meal but also on the promotion of physical activities.
The farm to school advocacy program designed to alleviate childhood obesity, despite the milestones made, continues to receive little support. This policy encourages the farmers to grow organic foods that are more nutritious and that can be taken in schools to provide a balanced diet; fruits and vegetables are particularly emphasized. The program also encourages physical activity, an aspect equally covered in the school programs and teaching curriculum (Muckian, Snethenm & Buseh, 2017).
The program has greatly impacted society as evidenced by the improving student scores, reduced malnutrition cases, and reduced food wastage (Washington State Department of Agriculture, n.d.). For this reason, better political support of the initiative could translate into better results.
Government involvement in policymaking and implementation takes different methods including tax exemption, provision of subsidy, and population education. There should be tax relief to the farmer who produces healthy foods to attract more individuals to the sector. Population education should be geared towards a change of consumer behavior so that healthy farming and eating methods are adopted (Mozaffarian et al., 2018). There is a need to increase government funding to research institution to enable them to fast-track the achievement of a healthy society.
Thanks for being considerate. Looking forward to a fruitful interaction on this subject.
Sincerely,
Name:
Title:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Phone Number:
References
- Mozaffarian, D., Angell, S., Lang, T., & Rivera, J. (2018). Role of government policy in nutrition—barriers to and opportunities for healthier eating. BMJ, k2426. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2426
- Muckian, J., Snethen, J., & Buseh, A. (2017). School Nurses’ Experiences and Perceptions of Healthy Eating School Environments. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 35, 10–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2017.02.001
- Skinner AC, Ravanbakht SN, Skelton JA, Perrin EM, Armstrong SC. (2018). Prevalence of Obesity and Severe Obesity in US Children, 1999-2016. Pediatrics, 142(3), e20181916. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-1916
- Washington State Department of Agriculture. Benefits of farm to school factsheet – national farm to school network. Impacts of farm to school. Retrieved from https://www.farmtoschool.org/Resources/BenefitsFactSheet.pdf.