Policy Problem Statement

This assignment is focused on having you determine which health policy issue you would like to use as the basis for two upcoming assignments, the Policy Brief and the Policy Analysis. Prior to beginning this week’s assignment, you are encouraged to review the instructions for these two assignments in weeks seven and eight. Because you will be focusing on the issue you select this week throughout the rest of the course, you are encouraged to choose an issue that is important to you (personally or professionally) and want to investigate further. Your topic can be anything you want as long as you are able to clearly define it as a policy-relevant question that can be analyzed. Some examples of policy-relevant health issues are: • Un- and under-insured populations’ access to health care – MY CHOICE As we have learned from our readings, the first and arguably most important step in the policy analysis process is problem definition. For this assignment, you will describe a policy-relevant health problem Un- and under-insured populations’ access to health care – MY CHOICE, explain why and for whom the problem is important, and state the problem as a policy-relevant question. Keep in mind that not all health problems are necessarily policy-relevant, so you should think critically about the problem you select based on our readings. You are encouraged to review the sections of our readings and module notes that discuss what types of health issues warrant policy interventions and how to best articulate those issues as policy questions. In addition, be sure to avoid some of the common pitfalls in problem definition such as defining the solution in the problem or making assumptions about the causes of problems. Remember, in your upcoming assignments, you will use the policy question you create this week to develop a health policy brief presentation and a written health policy analysis. For this assignment, you will do a three to five minute presentation (as a screencast) of your policy problem. Your presentation should: • Describe a policy-relevant problem • Explain why the problem is important • Describe the target audience for the policy • Clearly state the problem as a policy-relevant question Creating Screencasts This course requires you to create screencasts for some of your assignments. A screencast is essentially a presentation that you give using your home computer. Screencast software allows you to record your voice (through your computer’s microphone) and what is on your computer screen (such as a PowerPoint presentation). Screencasting and video creation may be new to some students. You are strongly encouraged to leave yourself a generous amount of time to create your screencasts if this is new to you. Below are some additional resources and tips to help you create screencasts and videos. Free screencast software is available from: Screencast tutorials: • Technology for Teachers and Students (Producer). (2016, Dec 26). Screencast-O-Matic 2017 tutorial: Screencastomatic screen recording tool (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video, 11:09 minutes]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1jIPo1bWCo • Screencasting Tutorial | Sophia Learning (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Retrieved from http://www.sophia.org/tutorials/screencasting • 3 Ways to Create a Screencast – wikiHow (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Screencast You can also make screencasts with programs like PowerPoint by adding voice narration directly in your presentation. Note that many people find this strategy more challenging than using screencast software, so you are encouraged to only use this option if you are already familiar with it. Review these tutorials for more information: • Record and add narration and timings to a slide show (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. • Turn your presentation into a video (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. A few other notes about your screencasts: • After the screencast has been created, you should have a link to the screencast from the screencast website or it can be uploaded to a video sharing website, like YouTube (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. or Vimeo (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. This is the link you should submit for your assignment. • You are not required to include a video of yourself in your screencast, but you are welcome to do so if you would like. For your assignments, the screencast is only required to have your presentation slides and your voice-over. • Screencasts and videos posted online can be marked “personal” (anyone with the direct link can view) rather than “public” (anyone can view), but should not be marked “private” (only the person who created the video can view it). Screencasts and videos can be deleted after the course is finished (after week eight, once the final course grade has been received). • Please be sure to double-check that the link to your screencast/video works correctly (e.g. sound, etc.) prior to submitting your assignment. Consider having a friend or family member review your presentation from a different computer to ensure it works correctly. • Make use of the technology’s “Help” or “Technical Service” assistance, which are often available as a feature within programs (check the toolbars and menus for help sections) or on the company’s website. Many programs have discussion forums in their help sections of their websites where you can ask questions and receive assistance. For your assignment, you should submit: • A web link to your screencast • A PDF of your presentation slides