HEALTH POLICY PROJECT

HEALTH POLICY PROJECT

This course is a writing intensive course and features a health policy project that you will work
on throughout the semester. There are 3 parts to the project- a draft policy paper, a
presentation, and a final policy paper. Students will share access to their draft policy paper (for
peer review) and their presentation by sharing these documents in its respective discussion
board. Students will also upload each part of the project to its respective Dropbox folder for
grading.
Courses fulfilling the Writing Intensive Education requirement will encourage the mastery of
practical and intellectual skills, including writing, reading, speaking, qualitative and quantitative
reasoning, technology, information literacy, and critical thinking. This course will address the
following student learning outcomes (LO):
1. Students will incorporate instructor-driven feedback into learning drafts of writing
assignments
2. Students will produce source-based writing that demonstrates the synthesis of a
discipline-specific, scholarly perspective
Student Learning Outcomes Student Learning Outcomes
1. Draft Policy Paper LO1
2. Policy Presentation LO2
3. Final Policy Paper LO2
Each student will select a Healthcare reform topic (2 students max per topic). Each student will
research their assigned topic individually. Each student will record a presentation of their topic
for the class and will share it in the course discussion board (either by uploading directly or by
sharing a link to the presentation). Lastly, students will use the concepts and analytical
understanding gained during the course to address their Healthcare Reform topics in a 12-page
Policy Paper (either for or against the topic) each student will submit their own paper for an
individual paper grade. It will be 12 pages (double-spaced 12 pt. professional publishing font,
excluding title and reference pages), using APA 6
th edition format. References must be cited in
APA format. *Sources for this information: journals, books, internet, government documents,
interviews, transcripts of people involved in the issue. Try to cover the issue, but be concise,
identifying key points.
Papers will be assessed on the basis of content, style, organization, and the coherent
development of expressions. Qualities which will influence your grade include: Appropriateness,
clarity, comprehensiveness, proper grammar and use of APA format. In the event that your final
paper does not meet the course requirements, I will allow you to resubmit your final paper
before the final day of class. In the event that you opt to re-submit your final paper, please
discuss this with me first.
During Module 1 each student will have the opportunity to select their health policy topic. If you
do not see a topic that is of interest to you on the list, you may email me requesting the addition
of a topic of your choice for review.
Examples of topics: Medicare reform, Prescription drug coverage for indigents, Accountable
Care Organizations, undocumented immigrants and health care, vaccination programs,
Medicaid Managed Long Term Services and Supports, medical marijuana, emergency
contraception, needle exchange programs, veteran health, medical care for prisons, late term
abortions, LGBTQ care, food insecurity, medical tourism, Medicaid expansion, long term
care/assisted living, etc.
Papers must address the following areas (use the bolded words as headers for each section of
your paper):
1. Provide an overview of the issue, describing briefly what it encompasses
2. Evaluate the social, cultural & organizational factors which put it on the healthcare
reform agenda
3. What effects would there be from this issue from the perspective of economic impact
on the nation, and on individual persons?
4. What are the political ramifications (if any) if Congress supports this issue?
5. What are the major influences that shape this issue?
6. Who are the people (groups, agencies, persons) most likely to benefit or lose from this
issue if it becomes policy? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
7. You must discuss pertinent information/literature that supports your position
8. Discuss any other viable options/positions regarding this issue
9. Each student will discuss any major problems associated with this position