Sample PUBH6001 Health Policy and Advocacy Assignment

PUBH6001 Health Policy and Advocacy Assignment Sample

Assignment Brief

Individual/Group - Individual
Length - 2000 words (+/?) 10%)

Learning Outcomes

This assessment addresses the following learning outcomes:
Analyze different theories and approaches to policy agenda setting
Apply knowledge of policy development to a public health policy issue
Analyze issues in contemporary Australian health care policy
Develop processes for the evaluation of and accountability for policy
Critique the role of networks and coalitions in the policy agenda setting process

Submission - Sunday of week 8 at 11.55pm*

Weighting - 40%

Total Marks - 100 marks

Instructions:

In this Assessment, you will engage in policy analysis. For assignment help Choose a health policy (either current or past), either at the state or federal level, to analyses in this Assignment (e.g., mental health policy, women’s health policy, preventative health policy, men’s health policy, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy). The Assignment should be approximately 2,000 words (+/? 10%) and presented in essay form. Address the following questions in your Assessment but please do not answer the questions as a series of short answers:

Firstly, provide a short introduction to your essay. Then proceed to analyses your chosen policy, and in doing so, consider the following issues:

The Problem and Context

• Describe the current and historical policy context of the problem.

• What is the problem which the policy seeks to address?

• What problems are highlighted?

• What problems have been overlooked?

Frame of Reference/Dominant Discourse

•What is the common frame of reference or dominant discourse evidence within this policy???

•Are certain words and phrases commonly used?

•Are there any underlying assumptions behind these?

Targets, Stakeholders and their Representation

•Who is the target of the policy (the subject of the discourse)?

•Who are the other stakeholders identified in the policy? Describe key institutional structures, agencies and workforce capacity building.

•How are the subjects of the policy being represented?

•How are different social groups portrayed in this policy and what implications does this have?

•Are there any moral judgements expressed in this representation?

Policy process

•Who were the stakeholders involved in the development of the policy? Who was overlooked?

•Whose interests were represented in the development of the policy? Which voices were not heard?

•What were the potential competing interests and power differentials of those involved in the development of the policy?

•What was the motivation for stakeholders in creating this policy?

•Were there any particular windows of opportunity that enabled the development of this policy?

Policy Solutions

•What solutions are put forward to address the problems?
 What alternative solutions might have been overlooked?
•Are there any social/power/ethical implications of this policy?

Effectiveness

•Consider the implementation of the policy. How effectively do you think the current policy has been implemented?

•What are the accountability processes for the policy?

•Consider evaluation measures (indicators) and any evaluation which has been undertaken.

•How effective has the policy proven to be?

  Finally, finish your essay with a conclusion.

Assessment Criteria:

• Knowledge and understanding of the policy issue (30%)

• Critical analysis of the problem, frames of reference used, the policy process and policy solutions (30%)

• Application and synthesis of knowledge about policy theories (25%)

• General Assessment Criteria (15%) Assessment fulfills general academic standards, including: Provide an introduction and conclusion

• Complies with academic standards of writing, including legibility, clarity, accurate spelling, presentation and grammar.

• Uses appropriate APA 6 style for citing and referencing research

• Upholds standards of academic integrity, as demonstrated by acceptable report from text?matching software (e.g. Safe Assign).

Solution

Women’s health policy

Introduction

Australia was among the first countries to adopt a health and wellness related strategies specifically for women. The National Women’s health Policy was embraced to strengthen and to enhance the health and well-being of every Women and girls living in Australia, especially those who are more susceptible to poor health. The National Women’s health Policy 2010 was created on the concrete foundation of the first National Women’s Health Policy: Advancing Women’s health in Australia. The National Women’s health Policy now helps to address the challenges faced by Women in sustaining good health in the 21st century. There has been a serious rise in diseases affecting women today. But, unfortunately, there are major inequalities in the wellness status of several Australian women (Dc.cod.edu, 2021). The woman from lower socio-economic groups, Aboriginal background and Torres Strait Islanders still face hardships regarding health care. The aim of the new and improved health care policies for Women strives to enhance the health care conditions of all women, especially those prone to poor health. Based on the National Women’s health Policy 2010, the National Women’s health Strategy for 2020 to 2030 was adopted for even more improved health care for Women (Nakray, 2013). This report shall dive deeper and find out more detailed information about Women’s health care polices of Australia.

The problem and Context

Women’s health has been neglected in the society for long. It was time that women are treated as equal subjects in the society whose health needs must be catered to. Thus, the policy makers felt the need for framing policies that would help in the upliftment and improvement in the health of women in the country. The window of opportunity when the framing and implementation of the women health policy is the fact that it will help in improving the health index of the country which will consequently help in enabling growth and development in the country.

The 1stNational Women’s health Policy of Australia was adopted in the year 1985. In the Adelaide conference (September of 1985), more than 700 Women together produced a bipartisan agreement stating that the National Women’s health Policy, should be focus on Women ’s position in the society, how it affects the status of their health and accessibility in wellness treatment facilities.

In order to create the Women’s health policy, an extensive consultation process was followed yearning to discuss the ‘Women’s health: a framework for change‘. Meetings were held across all capitals cities and few handpicked villages, 300+ written documents were submitted, which clearly conveyed the message to the government to know the real situation and how it impacted the lives of the women in the country. The Women of Australia contributed a huge deal in the development of the First National Women’s Health Policy.

The problem prioritised in the 1989 policy were Health of aging Women, Reproductive health and sexual health, Personal and mental health, Livelihood Health and Safety, Violence against Women, Women’s health as care givers and the impact of prejudice against women on Women’s health. Some strategies also recognized five field regarding Women’s concern about structure of health care and information –Outlay of health services for Women, provide with health related information, collection of data as well as research, participation of Women in making decisions in health sector, equipping health care providers A majority of health problems were established with the aid of study and analysis, which represent the significant problems related to mortality and diseases among women in the next twenty years.

Firstly, the health focus area is preventing severe illness by controlling the danger, targeting severe illness like diabetes, cardiovascular illness, and cancer. And also by preventing risk factors like nutrition, obesity, drug consumption, inactivity in life style, alcoholism. The policy encourages getting a detailed insight of Women’s lives, containing the obstacles that prevent Women adopting healthy lifestyles and behaviours. Secondly, the focus area is taking care of the mental state and health, depression, targeting anxiety, and suicide for women. Thirdly, the focus area is reproductive and sexual health; providing information and educating people on sexual health, safe coitus practices, reproductive health, and maternal health. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and staying fit before, during and in the postpartum period may have a significant and long-term impact on both the mother's and the kid 's health. And finally, good ageing focuses on illnesses such as musculoskeletal injuries, dementia, and disability. The strategy emphasises that the economic, cultural, and environmental conditions in which women reside and age can have an effect on their later years. However, despite the policies and strategies that have been implemented by the government of Australia in context to women’s health, not much improvement has been seen in the overall health of the women of Australia. This is probably because of the lack of a procedural means to implement the policies and strategies of women health as a result of which desired outcome is not attained.

Frame of Reference/Dominant Disclosure

There has been significant improvement in Women’s wellness care since the introduction of Women’s health treatment strategies. However, these improvements are not equally achieved throughout Australia. Women from certain group like the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders involvement much worse health. Even though some agenda of the National Women’s health Policy 2010 has initiatives to eradicate inequality in health care, there are little evidence of how much it has been able to achieve success in real situations of those Women (Phaa.net.au, 2021).

There is a severe lack in fund for these policies, which is not highlighted like its principles are. Apart from that some Australian Women feel that NWHP and NWH Program only address the interests of Anglo-Australian women from middle class background (Awhn, 2021). The problems of the Aboriginal Women were however left out as discussed earlier. The National Aboriginal Health Strategy, was adopted to deal with Aboriginal Women’s health. But regrettably, it was never funded sufficiently. An evaluation in the year 1994 brought to light -gross under-funding by all governments, absence of accountability, absence of political support for the National Council of Aboriginal Health that was created to supervise implementation.

No satisfactory long term outcome was achieved even after positioning immigrant and refugee women differently. The National Non-English Speaking Background Women’s health Strategy (NESBWHS) was created to help these women.

Keywords like Women, Aboriginal Women, National Women’s health Policy, strategy, health, health issues can be seen throughout. It is assumed that the National Women’s health Policy and other programs are enough for resolving all issues and problems related to Women but in reality they fall short to cover the entire aspect of Women’s health.

Targets, Stakeholders and their representation

The main target of the National Women’s health Policy, National Women’s health Strategy, National Non-English Speaking Background Women’s health Strategy (NESBWHS), etc. is Women of Australia (Dalinjong & Homer, 2018). All these policies are targeted towards improving Women’s health. Australia launched the National Women’s health Policy in 1989 and became the only country to have a comprehensive policy on Women’s health care. The policies are meant to deliver conventional and diverse Women’s health services. The other stakeholders of the women health policy include the healthcare professionals including doctors and nurses as well as the government as they play an important role in improving the overall health of women in the country. They also have a very big role and representation to play in the implementation of the women health policy aimed at improving the overall health of the women of the country. Both the government as well as non-governmental organizations ensure that the health needs of the women in Australia are catered to. They constantly monitor the policy and the impact that it has on the overall health of women in the country.

The idea of Women as central principal of the policy was widely supported. One of the main principles of the policy was equality among women regarding health care. Because of the high risk that the Torres Strait Islander Women and Aboriginal Women faced in poor health, they were oftentimes prioritised (Vasilevska & Fisman, 2012). The other groups of Women who were at high risk of inferior health were- Women with disability, Women who are caregiver, Women living in remote areas or rural areas, refugee Women, migrant Women, Elderly Women, and bisexual and lesbian Women. Active participation of the different groups of Women in designing the policy, implementing the strategies which affect them, helping to facilitate that the health aids and information are designed keeping in mind the needs of people who require it the most (Awhn.org.au, 2021). The participation of women in making these policies strongly suggests involving expert opinion of women from various communities in implementation of the local programs which aim to improve the health of women in the country.

Policy Process

The National Women’s health Policy is a unique proposition specifically designed for women and girls in Australia. The policy was created specially with women prone to poor health in mind. The 1989 policy was designed to solve the problem related to Women’s health of that era (Wohler & Dantas, 2017).

Over the past decades, the 1989 policy for women’s health has been the footing for expansion of new programs for women’s health. A majority of health care establishments were built or renovated; health care providers were trained in a new and integrated way. Australian Longitudinal Study on women’s health was established because of 1989 policy.

The National Women’s health Policy was developed on the basis of 1989 policy. This policy had a dual approach addressing immediate and future health challenges of Women. It equally prioritised- Administration and advancement of health care facilities and preventive strategies to care and prevent through targeted health issues that will have a massive effect on the following twenty years and dealing with the social determinants of health in order to curb health inequalities.

Policy Solutions

The government of Australia is based on improving and motivating decent wellness of everyone and supports obstructive efforts which may help to address particular health problems raised by Women through this policy.
Chronic diseases are one of the biggest health issue faced in Australia, which causes death, disability and sickness among the population. But chronic diseases can be reduced by prevention, modifications of lifestyle and providing support. The Australian Government has taken numerous initiatives to help prevent and manage chronic diseases, one such example is the Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance. Over the past decade, ACDPA has operated with the government, stakeholders and public health groups to boost nutrition, increase physical activity and reduce obesity among the population.

Mental health conditions can be a silent killer. In today’s world mental health issues are rapidly increasing and affecting huge masses of the population all around the world (Hajizadeh & Butler, 2014). Women are more prone to experience mental health problems from various issues like domestic violence, family pressure, post partum depression etc. The Australian Government has taken multiple initiatives to help prevent and cure mental illnesses. Some of them are The National Mental Health Policy of 2008, beyond blue: The National Depression Initiative, Forth National Mental Health Strategy and headspace

Most deadly and dangerous sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented very easily. The Australia’s Health Ministers Committee (AHMC) promoted the New National Strategy for prevention of STIs, BBVs, and HIV.
The Australian health ministry has taken several initiatives to help mothers before, during and after child birth. Initiatives like- the Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy 2010–2015, National Maternity Services Plan, et al to support mothers and reduce mortality rate in new-borns. Apart from this, the government must also employ volunteers who shall spread awareness regarding women health, this will help in educating people on serious issues like women’s health. The social implication of these policies implemented by the regulatory bodies is reflected by the importance that the government bestows on the health of women. This empowers women who feel important and cared. Apart from this, this is the ethical thing to do as women have been neglected in the society at large and now, it is time to give them equal importance as the men of the society.

Effectiveness

Australia launched the first National Women’s health Policy in 1989 and since then Women have experienced significant economic, social and technological changes. Based on the policy of 1989, the National Women’s health Policy 2010 and the National Women’s health Strategy 2020 to 2030 has been created to make improvements in women health policy. The overall health of women in the country has witnessed considerable improvement over time (ray Jamieson, 2012). Diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, smoking rate in women have noticed a declining trend.

On one hand it can be said that the women’s health care policies have changed the National health policy to a great extent. We now have a modified and integrated women’s health policy that is inclusive of the arguments made by feminist like a national plan to combat violence against Women and the National Disability Strategy that meets the ethical needs and engages a sex inequality (Long& Baer, 2018). While on the other hand much of the changes clearly reflect a substantive political action. Health care for Women or anyone else, at the decision making help is still limited to primary health care and hospital levels, as the investments made for it is very small. The accountability of the success or failure of the policy lies in the hands of the policy makers who frame and implement the policies aimed at improving the health of women in Australia. The improving overall health of women as reflected by the statistical data is an evidence of the effectiveness of the women health policies and strategies implemented by Australia.

Conclusion

The National Women’s health Policy of 1989 was a remarkable mile stone that set the tone for future developments of health care specially tailored to fit the needs of women. In all, the government has taken great initiatives, and helped prioritize and endorse Women’s health care system. The Australian government has formulated lots of collection of policies, strategies, initiatives, programs and plans to health. The NWHP was the first of its kind health policy specially designed for women which inspired many such models across the world (Awhn, 2021).

The separation of women’s health sector has resulted in a plethora of successful achievements. Differentiation of access to health care of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders, Women with disabilities, has considerably lowered.

With improved health care the quality of life of Australian Women has improved considerably (health.gov.au, 2021). Thus it can be concluded that the National Women’s health Policy has proven be a great achievement and has considerably been able to enhance wellness protection requirement of Australian Women, specifically the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women

References

Awhn.org.au. (2021). Retrieved 24 March 2021, from http://awhn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/38_NationalWomensHealthPolicysummary.pdf

Dalinjong, P. A., Wang, A. Y., & Homer, C. S. E. (2018). Has the free maternal health policy eliminated out of pocket payments for maternal health services? views of women, health providers and insurance managers in northern Ghana. Plos One, 13(2), 0184830.

Dc.cod.edu, (2021). [online] Dc.cod.edu. Retrieved 24 March 2021, from https://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1630&context=essai

Hajizadeh, M., Connelly, L. B., & Butler, J. R. G. (2014). Health policy and equity of health care financing in Australia: 1973-2010. Review of Income and Wealth, 60(2), 298–322
health.gov.au. (2021). Department of Health | Women's Health. Retrieved 24 March 2021, from https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/national%20womens%20health-1

Long, D., & Baer, H. (2018). Health anthropology in australia: special section on medical anthropology. American Anthropologist, 120(3), 560–565.

Nakray, K. (2013). Gender-based violence and public health: international perspectives on budgets and policies. Taylor and Francis.

Phaa.net.au. (2021). Retrieved 24 March 2021, from https://www.phaa.net.au/documents/item/875
ray Jamieson, G. (2012). Reaching for health: the australian women's health movement and public policy. ANU E Press.

Vasilevska, M., Ross, S. A., Gesink, D., & Fisman, D. N. (2012). Relative risk of cervical cancer in indigenous women in australia, canada, new zealand, and the united states: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Public Health Policy, 33(2), 148–164.

Wohler, Y., & Dantas, J. A. (2017). Barriers accessing mental health services among culturally and linguistically diverse (cald) immigrant women in australia: policy implications. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 19(3), 697–701.