The increased societal concerns have a significant role in impacting public health thus the need for the implementation of effective policies. Population health advocacy is a significant aspect that helps to educate and mobilize systems to change to capitalize on the development of policies that can deal with health issues and provide a lasting solution. Considering that nurses and healthcare leaders are the key players in the healthcare industry, they must focus on shaping and influencing the development of health policies that have an impact on society. To capitalize on effective health policy, it is necessary to analyze all the vital aspects of societal concerns. The legislators have a significant role in promoting public health by focusing on a policy that could address the concerns and ultimately enhance public health. The development of the polices is based on the beliefs and facts regarding the specific health concern affecting individuals in society.
Policy Issue
The increased cases of natural threats and deliberately fabricated threats have played a major role in increasing the rates of pandemics in the society thus impacting the general well-being of the public. The policy issue to address the health concern in the society is the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness policy. Leinhos, Qari, & Williams-Johnson (2014) maintain that increased cases of disease pandemics and other hazards have resulted in a major impact on public health. It is important to note that the issue tends to not only affect the public but also the nurses and other health professionals who are also vulnerable to the pandemic. In that case, the pandemic becomes an issue that requires effective policies to reduce the negative impact and capitalize on promoting public health in society. The development of the policy issue involves the input of all major stakeholders in healthcare to ensure that all-important aspects are addressed effectively in a bid to promote efficiency.
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Why the Policy Matters
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness policy plays a vital role in enhancing public health and ensuring that society can overcome the negative effects of different kinds of disasters. In that case, the policy matters to the public and to all stakeholders in the healthcare industry that are concerned in enhancing public health. For the public, the policy helps to reduce cases associated with negative impacts of the pandemics and the hazards. Additionally, the policy would mean that the public maintains proper health thus the ability to engage in day to day activities. Leinhos, Qari, & Williams-Johnson (2014) argue that public health is the basis of all developments and issues that take place in society considering that healthy people can engage in any activity effectively thus reducing poverty levels in the society. For the nurses and healthcare professionals, the policy would help in developing effective measures to deal with health concerns in the society that are considered a pandemic.
The second important reason the policy matters involves the ability to increase medical preparedness and enhance response capabilities for emergencies. Buse, Mays, & Walt (2012) discuss that lack of medical preparedness is a crucial factor that affects the ability of the nation or society to protect the public against adverse effects associated with pandemics and natural/fabricated disasters. The implementation of the policy would, therefore, mean that the healthcare industry is prepared to deal with any health issues that may arise in society. Additionally, the policy helps to enhance the development of preparedness and response measures to deal with any emergency. Lack of adequate preparedness in times of emergency is a primary factor that impacts the ability to deal with any health concerns thus resulting in negative effects on public health. Although the policy focuses on addressing the issue of public health from the perspective of preparedness, it plays a vital role in enhancing the implementation of strategies to promote the overall health of the population by advocating for the important issues.
How to Strengthen the Policy
During the development of a policy, it is important to focus on measures that may help to support and strengthen the policy effectively. For the mentioned policy, the implementation of different measures may help to strengthen and improve the policy to enhance the outcome. The first possible measure that would help to strengthen the policy involves engaging all the stakeholders in the healthcare industry in policymaking and implementation. The development of pandemics and different forms of hazards affect major operations in healthcare thus the need to include the healthcare professionals in the processes of making vital decisions concerning the approaches to increase awareness and preparedness. Blank, Burau, f& Kuhlmann (2017) argue that decision making is a vital aspect in policymaking thus the need to have adequate information concerning an issue that affects the overall public health.
The second possible measure for strengthening the policy involves making proper investments in the healthcare industry to capitalize on the ability to implement various measures described in the plan. The ability to make financial investments in the healthcare industry may help in ensuring that the nurses and other healthcare professionals have all the necessary equipment that may support the implementation of the policy in society. Buse, Mays, & Walt (2012) maintain that the primary factor that affects effectiveness in the implementation of a health policy involves the lack of adequate resources. In that case, the availability of resources in the healthcare industry may help to promote factors such as research that concern the issues addressed within the policy. Additionally, the fact that the policy addressed the issue of effective response management in an emergency, adequate resources would play an important role in ensuring that the response measures implemented can improve on the general health of the public.
Role of an Advocate for the Healthcare Consumer and Healthcare Professionals
Policy advocacy is an important process that helps to ensure that policy addresses all the aspects of an issue. In this process, it is necessary to involve all the stakeholders as they help in providing adequate information concerning an issue. As an advocate in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness policy, it is important to focus on addressing the policy issue from different perspectives. When advocating the issue to healthcare consumers, the main aspect to consider involves the possible impact of the policy from an individual perspective. The healthcare consumers should understand that the implementation of the policy would mean that they will receive proper care in times of an emergency, which is an aspect that would promote the overall health of the public. The process of advocating the issue to the healthcare consumers would involve engaging in measures that create awareness on the impact of the policy.
As an advocate for healthcare professionals, it is necessary to capitalize on an effective process of negotiation o matters concerning the policy. The first important factor to address while advocating for the policy involves the impact of the societal concerns involving increased cases of a pandemic. Healthcare professionals can analyze the level of impact of the pandemic on the overall health of individuals in society. The ability to quantify the impact of pandemic acts as a basis for negotiating on the key aspects that would be done to improve on the situation. The second aspect of concern involves understanding the health system focusing on the ability to addressing the impacts of the pandemic and other emergencies. Mediating dialogue with the given stakeholders is an important role of an advocate that helps to ensure that they understand the need for the policy based on the societal concerns that affect public health.
Impact of the Policy
The implementation of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness may have a major impact on the health care systems and individuals in society. The first major impact of the implementation of the policy involves a general improvement in public health. Considering an increase in cases associated with pandemics, hazards, and emergencies, the issues of the public experience that impact their health and overall well-being. It is important to note lack of proper health may result in other welfare issues such as increased poverty levels and a high mortality rate. In that case, the implementation of the policy may help to deal with a wide range of factors that impact the well-being of members of the society. Ultimately, this helps to improve the overall health of the people in the society, which translates to a better society.
Another significant impact of the policy involves bettering the healthcare system through the availability of the required resources. The main factor addressed within the policy entails focusing on the role of nurses and other healthcare professionals in understanding the need to have an adequate level of preparedness. The policy provides healthcare professionals with adequate information on the measures that should be implemented to deal with pandemics and other emergencies that may arise in society. Additionally, the ability to increase the level of preparedness helps to boost the effectiveness of the industry. Lastly, the policy helps to improve the approaches implemented in healthcare facilities. Considering that the policy focuses on defining effective and new approaches concerning how to deal with a pandemic, the healthcare facilities get to implement the given measures when dealing with other health issues thus resulting in a major improvement.
Role of Stakeholders in Promoting the Cause
In the healthcare industry, the stakeholders have a primary role in ensuring that policy helps towards the achievement of the intended objective. In this case, the stakeholder focuses on strategies to promote public health and reduce the impact of the pandemics in the society. the primary role of the stakeholders, in this case, involves providing adequate information regarding the action that should be taken to improve on the situation and provide the best possible solutions. The stakeholders can analyze the situation to identify areas that require change and those that require more advanced measures. The second impact involves creating a platform for change considering their ability to inform and interact with the public on issues concerning health. The main objective of the health care industry involves promoting public health by providing quality and accessible care.
Conclusion
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness policy plays a vital role in enhancing public health and helps to address health concerns in society. The policy helps to increase on medical preparedness and enhance response capabilities in cases of emergency. The ability to make financial investments in the healthcare industry may help in ensuring that the nurses and other healthcare professionals have all the necessary equipment that may support the implementation of the policy in society. The process of advocating the issue to the healthcare consumers would involve engaging in measures that create awareness on the impact of the policy. Engaging the stakeholders is an important role of an advocate that helps to ensure that they understand the need for the policy based on the societal concerns that affect public health.
References
Leinhos, M., Qari, S. H., & Williams-Johnson, M. (2014). Preparedness and emergency response research centers: using a public health systems approach to improve all-hazards preparedness and response. Public Health Reports , 129 (6_suppl4), 8-18.
Blank, R., Burau, V., & Kuhlmann, E. (2017). Comparative health policy . Macmillan International Higher Education.
Buse, K., Mays, N., & Walt, G. (2012). Making health policy . McGraw-hill Education (UK).
