Masters: Health Policy

Ideology 

ideas/ beliefs towards a normative vision 

Institutions

A set of rules, guidelines and procedures that can help structure government behavior

Legislative Branch

Made up of the House and Senate, and makes laws

Autonomy

people have the right to make thier own choices based on views/ beliefs

Beneficence

intervention of any good to every single person taking part

Non-maleficence 

Doing no harm, whether intentionally or unintentionally 

Political Parties

unified by political philosophy, translating political philosophy into policy ideas

Conservative

Individual responsibility, health care is a commodity, not a necessary human right. minimal government intervention 

Ballot Measures

Citizens: collect signatures to place laws on the ballot

• Initated Amendment: amends the state constitution

• Inititated Statue- amends state statue

• Veto-Referndum - uphold or repeal law

• Statue Affirmation - denies amending w/o voters 

Legislative: power to refer measures to the ballot

Institutional Agenda

action agenda (serious consideration)

Systematic Agenda

discussion agenda (all societal problems)

Agenda Setting

set by various factors from public officials, mass media, and interest groups like:

• Ideological - ideas and beliefs

• Political - partisanship

• Economic- costs-benefits 

• Social - health risks 

• Cultural - customs 

Policy Adoption

determined by government institutions (party loyalty)

building consensus (bargaining and compromise) 

incrementalism rather than innovative (rational)

Preemption 

A higher level of government limits the authority of lower levels of government

Positive Example: Federal airline smoking ban 

Knowledge Translations

process of synthesis, dissemination, exchange, and ethnically sound application of knowledge to improve health 

Executive Branch

The president, vice presidents, and cabinet carry out the law.

The President works with different organizations like CDC, FDA, OSHA, etc.

Executive Orders

being able to issue directives like legislative laws

subject for judicial review 

legislative (harder) and executive can alter or overturn laws 

increasing power to executive branch overtime 

federal, state, and local enforcers

• power to develop shape and expand health policy 

Policy Implementation

gaps between intentions, actions, and outcomes

• who should enforce law

• what does law look like without regulations 

• When should the regulation come into 

Judicial Branch

interprets the law and decides whether laws are constitutional. Made up of supreme court and other federal courts Supreme C

Litigation

The process of taking legal action, used by stakeholders to force or alter policies

ex. Pro Health 

• can force indirect regulation 

Targeted Approach

affects a certain group

• group has worse health outcomes/disparities

Health Impact Assessment

A tool that helps make choices to improve public health

Process: Screening, scoping, assessment, recommendations, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation

Goal

broad statement to improve health/ well-being

ex. the healthiest country by 2030

Objective

statement of how goals will be achieved

ex. reduce prevalence by smoking < 5%

Strategy

action taken to reach the objective

ex. tobacco plain packaging 

SMART Techniques

Specific - indicates clear action on a determinant, population groups, and setting 

Measurable - includes features that will help you tell whether it has succeeded 

Attainable - can be realistically achieved on time and within resources

Relevant - logical way to achieve your goal

Time-Based - indicates the timeframe from the action

Eight-Fold Path

Define the problem, assemble some evidence, construct the alternatives, select the evaluation criterion, project the outcomes, confront the tradeoffs, decide, tell your story 

Stakeholder

person/group involved or affected by government actions, vested interest in policy being discussed, and support or opose policies that afffect them 

Networks and Coalitions

A community linked by common interest and activity

A broader group but a shared goal and target 

Public Good 

establishes the rule of law, improves efficiency and coordination, and guides and alters behavior 

Upstream Factors

population level: increasing population impact like socio-economic factors and changing the context to make individuals default decision healthy

Downstream Factors

individual level: increasing individual effort needed like counseling, education and clinical intervention

Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA)

• Tool to help make choices to improve health equity

  • Focus on communities at greatest risk 

  • Increase access to quality healthcare 

  • Increase workforce to address disparities 

  • Support research to identify effective strategies to eliminate disparities 

  • Standardize and collect data to better identify and address disparities

Policy Formulation 

creation of a policy by identifying problems, analyzing options, and designing a plan of action.

Policy Evaluation

systematic assessment of a public policy's design, implementation, and outcomes to determine its effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance in achieving its goals

Liberalism

Government intervention is nessarccessary, promoting equality, and health care is human right

Stakeholder Analysis 

systematically determining the interest involved occurs in policy development and implementation