Guide for policy advocacy statement structure
Guide for policy advocacy statement structure
Also, note:
This is a not a template and does not provide your with headings to use
The more guidance is given in the assessment question and marking guide
Title
Position
The position of the organisation in favour or against the reform
Background
Background to the reform and why this organisation has a particular interest or stake in the outcome
Suggested amendments
Any aspects of the reform the organisation disagrees with or believes should be changed
Key points
The reasons you support or don't support the reform which should include both how the reform will impact the group you represent as well as the broader community or health impacts of the reform.
Summary
A brief overview of your position, amendments and key reason you support or don't support the reform.
4669982-258468ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET (INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT)
Students details
FAMILY NAME al-juaifer muamra
GIVEN NAME zahraa
STUDENT ID 18427761
HOME CAMPUS (where you are enrolled) online
Unit and tutorial details
UNIT NAME health system and policy
UNIT NUMBER PUBH7031
TUTORIAL GROUP
TUTORIAL DATE TUTORIAL TIME
LECTURER OR TUTORS NAME
Assignment details The College time/date stamp
For office use only
Title Risk and Benefit Analysis of Urgent Care Clinics
LENGTH DUE DATE 31/03/2024 DATE SUBMITTED 26/03/2024 Declarations
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I am aware that this work will be reproduced and submitted to a plagiarism detection software program for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism (which program may retain a copy on its database for further plagiarism checking).
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Risk and Benefit Analysis of Urgent Care Clinics
Reform Context and Benefits
The proposal aims to establish a trial of fifty urgent care clinics in Australia that will provide emergency services that which is otherwise provided by the emergency department (Medicare, 2024). These clinics would operate in primary care or community health settings and would offer services that are performed in the emergency departments (Medicare, 2024).
The benefits of this approach is as follows:-
Reduced strain on the emergency departments by diverting less urgent cases to urgent care clinics. The emergency departments will be able to focus on the critical cases which will reduce the waiting time and will improve the overall efficiencies.
Improved access to the healthcare benefits is another benefit. The urgent care clinics are operating for extended hours every day of the year which indicates that patients have greater access to healthcare services because they have the opportunity to avail the services for the extended hours.
Also, by providing less complex services in urgent care clinics government will be in a position to save the expenditures which is otherwise incurred in the emergency healthcare departments.
Also, another advantage is that patients will be in a position to receive timely care in a more appropriate setting which will result in higher health outcomes and the satisfaction of the patients.
Risk
The risks that arise are the insufficient uptake by the Community Health Centres and the general practices. If the general practices do not participate in the trial then the effectiveness of the urgent care settings will be limited which will reduce its ability to divert patients from the departments of emergency. The inadequate funding will also be a concern for the clinics. Due to insufficient funds, the clinics will not be able to operate at their full capacity which will compromise their ability to serve patients effectively. Also, another risk will arise due to the threat of opposition from the public hospitals. The public hospitals will oppose the establishment of the clinics because they fear that due to the establishment of the clinics, the existence of the public hospital will be in question. Also, other risks will include the requirement to change rules regarding the use of Medicare facilities by non-emergency specialists (Medicare, 2024). The risks will be associated with the recruitment of the candidates who will serve as employees in the urgent care units. This risk will arise because the employees might not be interested in working in the sector as this sector is new which will create apprehensions in the mind of the staff.
Risk Analysis
Risk Impact Likelihood Consequence Rating Risk Treatment Responsibility
Insufficient participation by the general practitioners along with the community health centers
The impact indicates that if enough of the individuals belonging to the general practices do not adopt the care clinics then human resources will be insufficient and the care clinics will not be able to provide adequate services. Possible High Moderate The increased incentives should be given to attract the participation of the healthcare workers. Incentives will improve the motivation of healthcare staff (Kitsios, & Kamariotou, 2021). Public awareness campaigns should also be arranged to enhance the awareness of the citizens (Elgendy & Abdelrahim, 2021). It will encourage participation and provide additional support to the individuals who are hesitating to join the care clinics. Department of Health
Constraints in the allocations of the funds
If adequate capital is not invested in the clinics then there will be limitations in the operations. The care clinics will not be able to remain open for extended hours. There will not be funds to appoint adequate staff which will reduce the capability of the care clinics to service patients effectively. Likely High Extreme Health awareness campaigns should be arranged to discuss the benefits of running of urgent care clinics because it will help people to become aware of the utility of the clinics in reducing the workload of the emergency departments and improving the service quality to the patients and as a direct consequence of the same adequate funds will be channelized into the formation and operation of the clinics. This healthcare campaign will increase the awareness of the people in the rural parts of the country (Chandra et al., 2016).
Social media platforms namely Twitter should also be utilized to seek funds (FasterCapital, 2024). The benefits of the clinics should be advertised on social media to catch the attention of the government and regulatory bodies who might be interested in lending the clinics. Healthcare department and its supporting team
Resistances from the other hospitals
The hospitals that are operating in the area i.e. both the private and the public hospitals may create hurdles in the operation of the clinic care settings due to the fear of loss of their business and customers. The establishment of the care units will attract a large number of patients which can cause potential loss of the established public and private hospitals. The growing opposition will be crucial as this will have the power to control the functioning of the clinics. Likely High Extreme Open communication should be used to communicate ideas and reduce conflicts (Dafoe et al., 2020). The meetings should be arranged with the other healthcare units to communicate with them so that they do not create any hindrances in the operation of the mentioned care clinics.
Department of Health of Australia and those in charge of the respective care clinics
The non-approval of the legislation
The operation of the care clinics will require the empowerment of the non-emergency specialists to use the Medicare items as the patients who have Medicare facilities may be admitted in the hospitals. This will require regulatory or legislative changes. So, if such approval is granted then it will cause problems in the functioning of the organization. The establishment of the clinics will be delayed. Likely High Extreme The stakeholder's communication will be one of the important steps that will help in solving the problem. These stakeholders like the regulatory bodies should be contacted and effective communication should be made with them so that they agree to make amendments to the existing laws favouring the establishment of the clinics. The stakeholders might contribute new ideas for finding solutions to the problems (Battisti et al., 2020). This type of approach will thus help solve the mentioned problems and will contribute to the effective functioning of organizations. The departmental heads of the clinic care (urgent) units
Staffing challenges
There might be challenges in recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and support staff to work in the discussed urgent care clinics. This will result in understaffing or insufficient expertise to handle the needs of the patients effectively. The risk of the patients who will get admitted to the clinics will be increased because the inexperienced staff will not be in a position to provide efficient services to the clients. This will lead to adverse health outcomes for the patients. Possible Moderate Moderate Competitive salaries should be provided to attract the talent (Krukovi, Ili, & Aneli, 2023). Also, targeted recruitment campaigns should be organized to attract healthcare professionals. This might include the advertisement of jobs to attract employees (Pejic-Bach et al., 2020). The possible advertising channels will include social media, professional networks, or newspapers. Head of the urgent care clinics.
References
Battisti, C., Poeta, G., Romiti, F., & Picciolo, L. (2020). Small environmental actions need of problem-solving approach: applying project management tools to beach litter clean-ups.Environments,7(10), 87. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments7100087
Chandra, A., Sarkar, S., Adinarayanan, S., & Balajee, K. L. (2016). Impact of health awareness campaign in improving the perception of the community about palliative care: a pre-and post-intervention study in rural Tamil Nadu.Indian journal of palliative care,22(4), 467. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.191832
Dafoe, A., Hughes, E., Bachrach, Y., Collins, T., McKee, K. R., Leibo, J. Z., ... & Graepel, T. (2020). Open problems in cooperative ai.arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.08630. https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.08630
Elgendy, M. O., & Abdelrahim, M. E. (2021). Public awareness about coronavirus vaccine, vaccine acceptance, and hesitancy.Journal of medical virology,93(12), 6535-6543. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.27199
FasterCapital. (2024). The top social media sites for raising funds for your business. https://fastercapital.com/content/The-Top--Social-Media-Sites-For-Raising-Funds-For-Your-Business.html#:~:text=Twitter%20is%20one%20of%20the,other%20businesses%20in%20your%20industry .
Kitsios, F., & Kamariotou, M. (2021). Job satisfaction behind motivation: An empirical study in public health workers.Heliyon,7(4), e06857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06857
Kruskovic, T., Ilic, B., & Andjelic, S. (2023, November 30). Attracting and retaining employees as a result of effective employer brand management. International Journal for Quality Research, 17(3), 11951206. https://doi.org/10.24874/ijqr17.04-14
Pejic-Bach, M., Bertoncel, T., Meko, M., & Krsti, I. (2020, February). Text mining of industry 4.0 job advertisements. International Journal of Information Management, 50, 416431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.07.014
Urgent Care Clinics. (2024). Urgent Care Clinics. https://www.aph.gov.au/-/media/55EEB672CFF74739B8B92FE61BF14470.ashx
Essay - Policy Advocacy Statement
Weight: 40%
Type of Collaboration: Individual
Due: Sunday 11:59 pm, 21st April. 2024, Week 7
Submission: online, using Turnitin on vUWS
Format: Word file
Clear headings and subheadings
Font: 11 point Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica fonts.
Line spacing: 1.5 or 2 lines. Margins: Minimum 1.5 cm and a maximum of 2.5 cm.
Length: 800 words
Use of Artificial Intelligence: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is not permitted in this assessment task without appropriate acknowledgement. See advice on acknowledging the use of generative AI on the Library web page.
Working with another person or technology to gain an unfair advantage in assessment or improperly obtaining answers from a third party, including generative AI, to questions in an examination or other form of assessment may lead to sanctions under the Student Misconduct Rule. The use of generative AI tools may be detected. More information is available on the Library web page.
Instructions:
Task
After considering the risks and benefits of the reform in assessment 1, how will this health system reform impact you/ your professional practice? Are you for or against implementing the change to the health system?
The Department of Health is convening a panel of experts and stakeholders, including government officials from the Department of Finance, Executives from major private health insurance companies, senior clinicians from District Hospitals, and community representatives.
Ahead of the meeting, you, as a representative of a stakeholder group of your choice, has been requested to writean Advocacy Statement to convince the panel whether or not the reform should be implemented. An Advocacy Statement is a written document that advocates or supports a position on behalf of a particular group or community. For example, you could advocate on behalf of your professional association (nurses, doctors, OTs), your local community (e.g. a NSW rural community), an interest group (e.g. elderly, people with disabilities, CALD populations, refugees, etc.) or organisation (private or not-for-profit). While it is important to ensure you are representing the needs of the community/organisation you identify with, it is also important to highlight the scale of impact outside your community too.
Aim of Assessment: Write a position statement demonstrating why the policy should or should not proceed /continue. The purpose of this assessment item is to provide you with an opportunity to explore and demonstrate an understanding a policy position, and to be able to write a professional statement that is acceptable to health industry professionals and to the stakeholders of the reform.
Examples of Advocacy Statements
Consumers: https://chf.org.au/publications/scheduling-codeine Medical colleges: https://www.racgp.org.au/advocacy/position-statements/view-all-position-statements/clinical-andpractice-management/voluntary-assisted-dying-legislationCriteria High Distinction Distinction Credit Pass Unsatisfactory
Engaging title (12.5%) Attention grabbing
title, that is also accurate and appropriate Title is accurate and appropriate Title is appropriate, although might be a bit vague Title is appropriate, although not entirely clear or essential information missing Title is not appropriate or does not correctly describe the problem
Analyses the problem, who it affects and its impact, with
evidence
(25%) Clear analysis of the problem, including the causes, who it affects and its impact with valid supporting evidence Clear analysis of the problem, who it affects and its impact, with evidence Analysis of the problem, who it affects and its impact, with evidence, although some information might be superficial or not relevant The problem is described, as well as who it affects and its impact, with evidence, although some information might be superficial or not relevant, and the evidence might be lacking in some instances The problem is not appropriately described, or significant information is missing. Evidence is poor.
Statement is tailored to the target audience(12.5%) Problem is clearly articulated to the key stakeholders, using relevant language that is engaging and attention-grabbing Problem is clearly articulated to the key stakeholders, using relevant language Problem is clearly articulated to the key stakeholders, using relevant language, although some information might be superficial or not relevant Problem is described with key stakeholders in mind, but some information might be superficial or not relevant, and not entirely clear Statement is not tailored to target audience, or significant information is missing.
Statement of position clearly articulated with rationale for
position
(25%) Articulates clearly why the policy is or is not required and provides sophisticated rationale for position Articulates clearly why the policy is or is not required and provides appropriate rationale for position Articulates clearly why the policy is or is not required and provides appropriate
rationale for position, although some information might be superficial or not relevant Articulates why the policy is or is not required and provides appropriate
rationale for position, although some information might be unclear, superficial or not relevant Position is not clearly articulated or rationale for the position is not included or well-founded
Use of academic tone and language to convey message in a professional and concise manner including proper use of spelling and grammar (12.5%) Paragraphs are consistently very well constructed with a topic sentence clearly signposting the content of the paragraph and information in the paragraph all related to the one topic. Proof-read, legible presentation of text with conventional spelling, grammar and punctuation. Paragraphs well-constructed, usually including topic sentence. Information in the paragraph all related to one topic. Proof-read, legible presentation of text with conventional spelling, grammar and punctuation, though with few typos. Paragraphs mostly well- constructed, usually including topic sentence. Information in the paragraph sometimes varies from topic. Text proof read with minor errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and typos. Paragraphs adequately constructed. Topic sentence to Indicate purpose of paragraph sometimes missing and contents of paragraph sometimes relate remotely to the topic. Little evidence of proof-reading. Some errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar but they
do not interfere with meaning Paragraphs poorly constructed / confusing. Purpose of paragraphs difficult to determine.
Paragraphs have no clear point Non-conventional
spelling, punctuation and grammar interfere with meaning
Evidence and use of scholarly resources
to support argument (12.5%) Scholarly resources that are well targeted to the topic are used, providing mostly peer-reviewed evidence to support the argument. Mostly peer reviewed scholarly articles are used to provide supporting evidence. Sufficient peer reviewed sources are used to support argument. Sufficient references cited to support argument, although some may not be current or relevant Insufficient references cited to support argument, or references are of low quality from non-scholarly sources or not correctly used.
