Imagine that you are a legislative consultant hired to assess the influence of stakeholders and interest groups on the health policy issue you chose for your Project Two submission. Your supervisor has asked that you present your findings to the senior leadership of your organization. This will help inform their decisions on how best to approach their intended organization-wide position statement regarding this issue.

Recall that in your Module Three Project Two Preparation assignment, you chose one health policy issue and researched its nonfinancial impact on various stakeholders. Now, in this assignment, you will continue your research on the chosen issue. However, your research will now be aligned to the financial implications of the selected issue for various stakeholders. In this assignment, you will analyze the financial needs of stakeholders and how they influence the financial practices in healthcare. Also, you will identify the financial benefits and disadvantages of a chosen issue for the stakeholders. Last, you will describe how financial value conflicts between stakeholders can be addressed with respect to the chosen issue.

Prompt

Create a research report summarizing your findings on the chosen health policy issue. This report will help you complete your Project Two submission.

You must cite at least two sources to support your claims. 

Use this resource to help you complete this assignment: Project Two Health Policy Issue Scenarios

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

1. Stakeholder Needs: Summarize the financial needs of any three key stakeholders and/or interest groups with respect to your chosen issue. Consider the following guiding questions in your response:
   1. What financial needs for the identified key stakeholders and/or interest groups affected by the issue need to be considered, particularly for those in vulnerable populations or underserved areas?
   2. Why is it important to consider these needs when making decisions regarding this issue?
2. Financial Influence: Analyze how the identified three key stakeholders and/or interest groups influence current financial practices regarding your chosen issue. Consider the following guiding questions in your response:
   1. Which of the identified key stakeholders have significant or obvious financial influences on health policies?
   2. Which of the identified key stakeholders have subtle or covert financial influences on health policies?
   3. Why is important to be aware of these influences when making decisions related to health policies for this issue?
3. Benefits and Disadvantages: Explain which of the identified key stakeholders and/or interest groups might financially benefit or be disadvantaged by your chosen issue. Consider the following guiding questions in your response:
   1. How might the identified key stakeholders and/or interest groups benefit from this issue?
   2. How might the identified key stakeholders and/or interest groups be disadvantaged by this issue?
   3. How might those in vulnerable populations or underserved areas be financially benefited or disadvantaged by this issue?
4. Competing Value Conflicts: Describe how competing financial value conflicts between identified key stakeholders could be addressed with respect to your chosen issue. Consider the following guiding questions in your response:
   1. What financial value conflicts might the identified key stakeholders have with respect to this issue?
   2. Why is it important to understand these value conflicts when making decisions related to health policy?
   3. How might the competition between these financial value conflicts affect both identified stakeholders’ influence on the issue and how identified stakeholders are impacted by the issue itself?

     

Health Policy Issue Option 3: Adult Immunization

Vaccine hesitancy refers to the refusal by an individual or group to seek available communicable disease vaccines. This hesitancy can be the result of lack of information, misinformation, distrust of government agencies, or religious or political beliefs. Public health challenges arise when the rights of individuals with regard to vaccine acceptance are in conflict with the overall health of the public.

You are a legislative consultant hired by the governor’s office in your state. Your supervisor—the governor’s special advisor on health—has asked you to explore the perspective and rationale of each stakeholder with regard to requiring adult immunizations for certain state-funded jobs. Your supervisor has also asked you to analyze the impact of each key stakeholder and interest group on the potential success or failure of this process.

Vaccines are proven to be effective in preventing disease and mortality. They are the premier achievement of public health programs in the United States and internationally. However, unlike childhood vaccinations, which are more highly regulated and are administered unless there is a documented exemption, adults over the age of 18 have the option to decline vaccines for any reason, documented or otherwise. Certain state-regulated licensing boards require these immunizations in order to earn or maintain a license, but there are currently no laws or policies at the federal or state level that require adults to be vaccinated with adult-only immunizations.

The state government recently conducted a survey to understand the potential reasons for adults choosing not to be vaccinated with adult-only immunizations. In your state, 39% of adults over the age of 18 have not had one or more adult vaccinations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In your presentation, you are asked to share your assessment and analysis of potential barriers to the adult immunization, the impact of each key stakeholder and interest group on the potential success or failure this policy, and your recommendation for whether adult immunizations should be required for certain state-funded jobs.

Guidelines for Submission

Your submission should be a 2- to 3-page Word document. You must also include an APA-style title page. Use 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and 1-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.