West Virginia University Social Detriments of Health Policy Discussion Paper

Selecting one of the Social Determinants of Health from “The Solid Facts” reading and a health outcome of your choice, you will use peer-reviewed journal articles and other reputable references to explain how these two factors are related to one another. You will then make a policy recommendation that would address this relationship and how it could lead to better health outcomes.

For your Rough Draft, you should essentially have finished your 5-8 page paper. This midpoint draft gives me a chance to provide some interim feedback prior to your final paper. Depending on how strong your rough draft is, you may have very little to change for your final draft.

Using the Collins’ article (“Health policy analysis: a simple tool for policy makers”), you will follow the eight steps outlined, covered in the following sections below. Note: You must include the section headings noted below in your outline, draft, final paper, and presentation.

Background (2-3 pages)

In this section, you will cover Steps 1 and 2 of the Collins’ article. Your last sentence of this section will be your problem statement (Step 2). Discuss the context surrounding your selected health outcome, including one of the social determinants of health as part of that context. Include potential causes and consequences of the health outcome, and basic prevalence statistics of this health outcome in both the United States and New Jersey. Note if any specific populations are affected by this health outcome, if applicable. Remember that your problem statement should be the last sentence of the Background section.

Policy Options (2-3 pages)

(Subheadings: Option 1 – [Name of Policy or Intervention]; Option 2 – [Name of Policy or Intervention]; Option 3 – [Name of Policy or Intervention])

Here you will cover Steps 3-6. Identify three (3) potential policy or interventions that could improve the health outcome. For each option that you have selected, provide a brief overview of what it is and how it could potentially impact your health outcome (i.e., Step 5 – Project the outcomes). Also provide a brief evaluative summary for each option (i.e., Step 6), making sure to address all five of the Rodriguez-Garcia criteria for each option.

Conclusions and Implications (1-2 pages)

Finally, you will cover Steps 7 and 8 here. Compare and contrast the three options here (Step 7)and select the one that you ultimately recommend over the remaining two options (Step 8). Provide justification and evidence for why you selected this option.

References (no page limit)

Provide your references using APA format.This paper should be 5-8 pages excluding references, double-spaced, 11 point font, and 1 inch margins. Please write in paragraph form (vs. bullet points). Be sure to include bold section headings and subheadings noted above for each section of your paper for organization. Sticking to not only the total page limit but for each section is expected, so please be sure to follow that directive.