HCA 415 Community & Public Health Week 2 Discussion

Week 2 Discussion

Infectious and Chronic Diseases

Imagine you are in charge of your local health department. You have found that your community has an epidemic of one of the diseases below (as noted by your last name).

Chronic Diseases:
************Last name M-N: Type 11 Diabetes (children)

Explain the actions you should take to reduce or stop the spread of the disease in your community. Develop a policy brief that you would implement to ensure that the disease incidence rate is reduced or eliminated.

TIPS FROM INSTRUCTOR:

What I would expect to see in a Policy Brief:

               Relevant Background

               The problem (why is this a Public Health issue)

               Effects of the Problem (what is happening because of this)

               Recommendations (what Policy Options can help alleviate this problem)

If you would like more information on Policy Briefs, another excellent resource is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  They have a detailed report on how to write a Policy Brief.  (Professor’s Tip #1:  Read page 15).  After each paragraph, ask yourself... "so what".

I would expect that your Policy Brief will be roughly two pages in length.  Some could be shorter and some could be longer, but I will be looking for content and style of the brief (along with the standard requirements of grammar, APA formatting, and references/citations).   Have fun with this assignment and feel free to be creative!  I’m looking forward to some informative briefs!

 John’s Hopkins School of Public Health: 

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/womens-and-childrens-health-policy-center/de/policy_brief/index.html

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: 

http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2195e/i2195e03.pdf