HLB

Assignment 2 Tips!

Topic

We recommend you keep the topic you used in Assignment 1 but you do have the option to change it. Some of you may get feedback that your discussion did not have a clear focus and that you will need to narrow it down for assignment 2. Please be advised that you do NOT need to rephrase any sections of your assignment one, you can include them as is in your second assignment. 

Short Intro

Briefly introduce your system/policy or practice and what it does.  Briefly detail why a systems thinking approach is useful/necessary. Finish by telling the reader what your paper will discuss.

Inputs, Throughputs, Outputs, Outcomes

Examine your feedback from Assignment 1, and then decide on which factors you are going to discuss under each of these headings. As you can imagine, there could be many talking points. This is where you need to critically examine and represent the most important or relevant factors (and feasibly addressable) and those that logically link between the four key areas. As I go through explaining these factors, I will use an analogy of cooking a meal for simplicity and clarity.

👉Inputs/building blocks are anything going into or informing the system/policy or practice. As stated on the assessment guide these can be tangible e.g. hospital facilities or intangible, such as socio-cultural or political factors. An example of this is increased funding for mental health services due to increased awareness and desire for action on mental health because of the pandemic. It could also be information from lessons learned from past policy failures. Relating to the meal these are our  ingredients.

👉Throughputs detail how the system/policy/practice operates/works. They are the processes by which we take these resources and actively utilize them to provide care or other services-how we organize and do care, how we implement the policy, how we communicate etc. It could encompass project management, quality control, risk management, education and training. This is our  cooking!

👉Outputs -are the results (usually quantitative) that come out of our system/policy or practice desired or otherwise. Examples include KPIs related to efficiency of care, quality of care, access to care. This is our  cooked meal.

👉Outcomes indicate the short-term, medium-term or longer-term results of the care delivery/service provision. These results can be directly related to healthcare outcomes for consumers or outcomes related to other stakeholders such as the healthcare organisation, staff etc. This could be our diners feeling full and satisfied after the meal or the nutritional value gained.

Extra Note:  Sometimes students understandably get confused between outputs and outcomes – output can be the immediate achievements (e.g., number of people who received care) whereas the outcome can be ongoing or longer term (e.g., the satisfaction rate of patients/staff retention). In other words, outputs are actions/items that help in achieving outcomes. NO marks will be deducted if you use output and outcome interchangeably, as there can be some overlaps. Outputs and outcomes should logically stem from our inputs and throughputs and be measurable where possible (e.g. objective measures such as KPIs and/or subjective measures such as consumer feedback).

Remember you are not just describing a list of factors. Your aim to is clearly represent where they fit, how they relate and how they influence your chosen system, policy or practice. 

Ask yourself: What is the system/policy/practice designed to do/striving to provide and how do we know if it is accomplishing that?

Formatting and Citing

· Keep within 2000 words all-inclusive. You can write more than you need and then cut down. You can insert a table as an image/snip where necessary in an Appendix to save on words. 

· Have at least 12 citations and aim to use peer-reviewed journal articles as well as health and organisational websites and reports. If you can’t find information specific to your area you can still likely find literature on systems thinking, broader outcomes etc.

· Check the APA template on Blackboard to ensure your formatting and citing are on point.

· Use the similarity check link to check your % similarity report before final submission.