Is it better to prevent illness than cure it?
Is it better to prevent illness than cure it?
By identifying potential health issues at an early stage, it is easier to manage or postpone the onset of conditions and even prevent them from occurring.
In the first written section of this assignment, you are required to write a 1,000-word Policy Brief, which is a short piece providing a short summary of a policy document.
The document in question is – Prevention is better than cure: Our vision to help you live well for longer (DHSC, 2018). The document was published in November 2018 and may be accessed at:
Before writing your Policy Brief, it is essential you read the above document in full.
Title
A title quickly communicates the content of the Policy Brief in a memorable way.
Part 1: Policy brief (1,000 words)
Aim
Summarise the aim of the assigned policy (DHSC, 2018) in one or two sentences to articulate the importance of this brief and what it aims to achieve.
Do not define the terms ‘prevention’ or ‘policy brief’, and no other source is required here except the assigned policy.
Problem
This section communicates the importance and urgency of the problem and aims to convince the reader of the necessity of policy action. You need to frame the issue in this section by including the following information:
- A clear statement of the problem or issue in focus; what is the policy trying to achieve in terms of improving population health.
- A short overview of the root causes of the problem; consider the public health prevention continuum, social determinants of health, and other relevant theories you have studied.
Background research
The aim of this element is to detail why the policy is valuable for public health practice and therefore, illustrate both the need for change and where the change needs to occur. To do this, you might do the following:
- Provide examples of health issues from the policy and from your wider reading that illustrate where public health practices are failing to meet the aims of the policy.
- Identify stakeholders (i.e. those providing the service and those using the service). Who is more affected/benefiting by the failure/success of the practices.
Policy Recommendations
The aim of the policy recommendations element is to provide a detailed and convincing proposal of how the failings of the public health practices need to change. This could be achieved by including:
- A breakdown of the specific practical steps or measures that need to be implemented.
- An argument about why and how these steps or measures are likely to be effective.
In summary, your Policy Brief needs to be:
| Focused | Achieve the intended goal of convincing the target audience. |
| Communicated effectively to a wide range of stakeholders | Target to an audience that is intelligent but non-specialist, therefore, technical terms should be explained. |
| Evidence-based | Support your arguments with evidence supported by citations. |
| Limited and succinct | Write only 1,000 words for Part 1. |
| Understandable | Use clear and simple language to support your argument. |
| Accessible | Subdivide the text using the headings given above. |
| Promotional | The use of colour and figures to make the policy brief more eye-catching. Figures can be created in programmes such as Google Slides, MS Excel or Powerpoint. |
| Practical and feasible | Ensure your policy brief provides arguments based on what is happening in practice and proposes recommendations based on the policy. |
Part 2 – Critical Analysis (1,500 words)
This section asks you to prepare a critical analysis of the policy, using theories of policy development that you have studied in the module. You may structure this part around the following sections:
Describe the policy development process
State how the policy-making process (i.e. problem identification, policy formulation, implementation and evaluation) can help identify factors associated with health policy.
Discuss the impact of the political perspectives
Consider the political policy context and law-making process in which the specified policy was situated. Evaluate how political priorities may have informed the policy, whether an appropriate needs assessment was undertaken. You may wish to argue about whether the needs of all communities were considered in the formulation of the policy.
Reflect upon the influence and involvement of relevant stakeholders potentially engaged within the process
In this section, you need to conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify the key stakeholders, those with power and those whose needs must be met.
Discuss the health implications of the strategies suggested in the specified policy to address the problem
In this section, you should consider how the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach has been implemented and how the approach supports decision making across other sectors.
Consider the potential barriers to implementing the policy recommendations and how these barriers might be overcome
Refer to weeks 8 and 9 to argue what factors may hinder the implementation of the policy. Identify which factors are a priority to address and suggest methods to improve the likelihood that the policy will be applied in public health practices.
P.S : Weeks 8 and 9
Week 8 outlined monitoring, policy evaluation, policy cycle, CDC’s framework for program evaluation , WHO evaluation framework, monitoring and evaluation framework, Stakeholders.
Week 9 discussed new policy development, public health systems, collaboration and its benefits, Partnership, Group dynamics, understanding culture.
