HEALTH POLICY (GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL) MEMO (2 pages)

10 points for paper

The purpose of this assignment is to inform your member of Congress or any person who is in a policy-making position (legislator, board of directors, mayor, chief of police, school board committee chair etc.) on a specific policy issue (not a nurse administrator in a hospital). This can be done as individual or group assignment. The group/individual will produce one, 2-page memo. Choose a health policy issue in which you are interested and want to know more.

Topics can include but are not limited to: access to health care, health care reform, patient safety and quality, nursing education, entry into practice, nurse scope of practice, nurse practice acts, nurse staffing ratios, Medicare/Medicaid,  end of life issues, gun control, food safety (food and product labeling), smoking cessation (tobacco legislation), childhood immunizations, seatbelt & helmet laws, mental health insurance parity, sex education in Massachusetts, environmental issues e.g. clean groundwater, air pollution control, or any of the many issues in long-term-care, nursing home placements, restraints, and patient advocacy panels.

Memo Format: This assignment will be presented in a memo format. The memo must be presented in the following manner. This is the means by which many communications reach legislators. This is not in official APA format (just the reference page). What you see below is the top of the first page (so no APA title page). See sample memo too.

Memo

To:

From:

Topic: Default substitute surrogate Date:

The composition of the memo is as follows:

-paragraph 1: Introduction: delineation of the purpose of the memo (1 point) ·    What is the issue?

                                                  ·   Why is a decision needed?

                                                  ·  What key information is contained in this memorandum?

                                                  ·   What course of action is recommended?

-paragraph 2: Background (2 points)

                                                  ·          Why this health policy change is important?

·   Brief, essential points that explain how this issue has evolved or become a concern. References will be used and referred to in the reference list or addendum

-paragraph 3: Stakeholder analysis (2 points)

                                                          ·   Who will be affected by this policy?,

                                                          ·        Refer to stakeholder analysis in

the addendum

-paragraph 4: Cost/benefit (2 points)

                                                          ·   What will the cost of the change may be?

-paragraph 5: Summary of (2 points)

                                                          ·                Proposal/project including recommendations

-attachments: (1 point)

                                                          ·        Reference list in APA format

                                                          ·        Stakeholder analysis table, and

·        Any other pertinent documents that may convince the recipient that this is a good idea.

The best way to meet the goals of this brief assignment is to choose a leader, assign different parts of the memo to group members, write your section, give back to the group leader, and make ready (edit) to send. This paper will be submitted to TurnItIn HPM Final for Graded Review. (.doc  or .docx only)

Grading Rubric for Health Policy Memo Health Policy Memo Evaluation: 10 Points

Topic/Grade Value	Requirements	Your grade/Evaluation
Purpose: 1 point	Paragraph clearly describes the purpose of the memo. The issue is defined, the decision needed is clear and key information that will be in the memo is described.
Background: 2 points	Described why the health policy is important. Explain how this issue has become a concern. References are used.
Stakeholder analysis: 2 points	Persons affected by this policy are described and a reference to the stakeholder analysis found in the addendum is made.
Cost/Benefit: 2 points	The cost related to the benefit is described.
Summary: 2 points	The proposal is summarized, and recommendations are made. Thank the policymaker in the last sentence.
Attachments: 1 point	A reference list was included; a stakeholder analysis was included as well as any other relevant date.
Total score
Group comment