The Health Care Policy Stage.

Posted: November 6th, 2022

The Health Care Policy Stage.

Scenario
Your role in this assessment is that of an intern who has been hired to work on a health care policy initiative. Your supervisor has asked you to prepare an infographic that will be used to inform new hires and volunteers about the health care policy stage related to the mission, vision, values, and goals of the organization.The Health Care Policy Stage.

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The research you do to gather the information for this infographic is also intended to ensure you understand the connection between the existing health care policy stage and why this organization is interested in spending valuable resources on lobbying for a change to a health care policy.

Note: You are encouraged to select a health care issue that compliments your professional career interests and goals.The Health Care Policy Stage.

Overview and Preparation
In order to complete this assessment, you must understand the functions of special interest groups in the health policymaking process and be familiar with how the groups use power to influence the political process.

Step One: Familiarize Yourself With the General Health Care Policy Stage
Use the Capella University Library, the Policy and Legislative Resources (found in the Resources), and your own Internet searches to learn how health policies get on the agenda, and what kind of information is needed to influence policy change.

Step Two: Select a Health Care Policy Issue
Once you have established a clear understanding of the health care policy stage in general, identify a specific health issue and survey the existing literature related to the following:

Identify the important players and influencers on the national, state, local, and global stage related to your selected health care policy issue.
Identify 2–3 special interest groups you think might have the most influence for your issue.
Step Three: Select a Special Interest Group Advocate Organization
Visit the 2–3 key organizations’ Web sites and locate their stated organizational mission, vision, and values, and find examples of public health care initiatives they support.

Narrow your choice to one specific group, and from this point forward, your selected organization will be the focus of this assessment.

Examine the political action structure of your selected special interest group.
Locate policy statements and initiatives that have significance to the organization from a national, state, local, and global perspective. You will use this information to create the infographic.The Health Care Policy Stage.
Step Four: Analyze Alignment to Mission, Vision, and Values
Analyze how your chosen health care policy issue aligns with the organization’s stated values and goals. Identify 2–3 health system values that are most often reflected (or implied) in their online statements and public health care initiatives. Use the health system values listed below.

Equality.
Efficiency.
Freedom.
Solidarity.
Fairness.
Acquisition of wealth.
Health Care Policy Stage Infographic
Create a 1–3-page infographic addressing the state and federal regulatory climate related to a health care policy and issue that aligns with a specific organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals. At the end of the infographic, provide a reference list citing your sources using APA style and formatting.

The purpose of this infographic is to inform new hires and volunteers about the health care policy stage related to the mission, vision, values, and goals of the organization.
Use the Internet to become familiar with typical examples of health care infographics. Refer to the suggested resources listed in this assessment.The Health Care Policy Stage.

Introduction
Form the early 1980s, systems on the development of population health comprised of practice and research agendas with emergence of various healthcare initiatives. For instance, based on the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, a lot of emphasis is laid on the development healthcare environments, building of public health policies and reorientation of healthcare services to enhance the ability of communities to make healthier choices in life (Blevins & Soderstrom, 2015). Although the American healthcare system has not been able to fully implement policy change in the health sector to realize positive change, the efforts made so far in health promotion can be recognized and appreciated since they have officially been formalized across various jurisdictions.The Health Care Policy Stage.
The opportunities for clinicians and researchers to improve health through contributions in formulating and implementing policy are unlimited. Mental health in the US confronts persistent pressure from inconsistencies in quality, increased costs, pervasive disparities related to income, race, geography and education, and avoidable harm to the patient. The persistence of most of these challenges is partly a reflection of failure of policy to improve health since most strategies to address these challenges exist in policy change (Davlasheridze, Goetz & Han, 2018). It is for this reason that, special interest advocacy groups such as Mental Health America were formed with an aim of influencing policy change to improve care for those suffering from mental disorders. This paper discusses mental health as a health issue and the Mental Health and Addiction Parity and Equity Act as a policy issue by Mental Health America. A description of how mental health and Mental Health and Addiction Parity and Equity Act are aligned to the mission, vision and values of Mental Health America will also be provided.The Health Care Policy Stage.
Health Care Policy Issue
Mental health issues comprise a significant part of the global disease burden which makes their prevention and provision of adequate facilities essential. Annually, approximately 18%; 43 million, adults in the US aged 18 years and older suffer from a mental illness (Blevins, & Soderstrom, 2015). Mental health is basically defined as a state of successful mental functioning that leads to activities which are productive, relationships which are fulfilling with other people, interpersonal and family relationships and the ability to positively contribute to the society and the community(Roehrig, 2016). Mental problems are primarily characterized by changes in mood, behavior and thinking which can be as a result of impaired functioning or distress.
The US has generally had a poor system that protects individuals with mental health problems where the majorities are either left homeless, incarcerated, discriminated or denied access to treatment. This explains why several lobby and special interest advocacy groups were formed with an aim of ensuring that people with mental health issues receive high quality care, aren’t left homeless or discriminated against to move the system forward. Besides, the failure to cover mental health by health insurances and group health plans made the access to care limited and underscored the significance of the Mental Health and Addiction Parity and Equity Act of 1996 (Grob, 2016).The Health Care Policy Stage.
Special Interest Group Advocate Organization
` Mental Health America is the special interest advocacy group of choice for this assignment. Mental Health America was formed the year 1909 as America’s leading community based non-profit advocacy group committed to addressing the needs of people living with mental illness and to enhance the overall mental health of American people. Its political action structure starts from the Regional Policy Council (Mental Health America, n.d.). The Regional policy council works with seven affiliate executive directors in 7 regions within the country through which affiliates engage with policymakers and other stakeholders to advocate, initiate and implement policies which positively influence the lives of many adolescents, children and adults with mental health disorders.The Health Care Policy Stage.
Its national agenda is to ensure that individual’s whose lives are affected by the decisions made in Washington and across the nation are well represented. From a global perspective, Mental Health America purposes to promote mental health as a vital part of the general wellness for the early identification and intervention for people at risk and support for those in need with the goal of full recovery(Mental Health America, n.d.). Through its efforts, victories against discriminative policies such as those brought by the Mental Health and Addiction Parity and Equity Act of have been won. Mental Health America through Senator Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici were able to push for reforms on the Mental Health and Addiction Parity and Equity Act in the year 2008. The law previously had loopholes through high copayments, out-of-pocket maximums and cost sharing that was imposed to mental health clients by insurers (Grob, 2016). Besides, it also limited the total number of visits to a healthcare provider or hospital. The act also failed to provide benefits for issues on dependency and substance abuse.The Health Care Policy Stage.
Alignment to Mission, Vision, and Values
The goal of the 2008 Mental Health and Addiction Parity and Equity Act is to manage individuals with mental health disorders before they are critically ill through prevention efforts early identification of symptoms and development of a plan of action to either slow down or stop disease progression. It also compels health insurers and group health plans to provide benefits and a guarantee that financial limitations on mental health treatment aren’t imposed on clients
Similarly, based on the online statements of Mental Health America, its mission is to address the needs of individuals living with mental illnesses and to promote the general mental health of Americans. Its advocacy efforts are driven by the values of commitment, collaboration, support and equality to facilitate recovery (Mental Health America, n.d.). It achieves this through collaboration with leaders in mental health programs to design policy recommendations which enhance: prevention, early identification and provision of integrated care for individuals in need with the goal of fully recovering.The Health Care Policy Stage.