(Answered) NRS428V Week 4: Benchmark – Policy Brief

The benchmark assesses the following competencies:

1.4 Participate in health care policy development to influence nursing practice and health care.

Research public health issues on the “Climate Change” or “Topics and Issues” pages of the American Public Health Association (APHA) website. Investigate a public health issue related to an environmental issue within the U.S. health care delivery system and examine its effect on a specific population.

Write a 750-1,000-word policy brief that summarizes the issue, explains the effect on the population, and proposes a solution to the issue.

Follow this outline when writing the policy brief:

  1. Describe the policy health issue. Include the following information: (a) what population is affected, (b) at what level does it occur (local, state, or national), and (c) evidence about the issues supported by resources.
  2. Create a problem statement.
  3. Provide suggestions for addressing the health issue caused by the current policy. Describe what steps are required to initiate policy change. Include necessary stakeholders (government officials, administrator) and budget or funding considerations, if applicable.
  4. Discuss the impact on the health care delivery system.

Solution:

Policy Brief

Among the environmental policy issues that affect the community is flooding insurance. Flooding is caused by many factors including intensity and duration of rainfall, topography, rapid water runoff, surface conditions, and poor drainage (American Public Health Association (APHA), 2020). Extended periods of wetness cause saturation of soils where additional rain leads to overflows and floods. The coastal areas of Palm Beach County are vulnerable to sudden and massive flooding characterized by forceful buildup of water levels due to tropical hurricanes and storms (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), 2021). Flooding severity depends on intensity, storm, angle of attack, forward speed, tidal conditions, etc. Natural disasters can affect anybody despite their socioeconomic, ethnicity, or demographic characteristics. However, some population groups are more vulnerable to disasters such as floods and their associated consequences.  These include the elderly, minority, and low socioeconomic status populations. According to Palm Beach County (2021), individuals from low socio-economic status are less likely to live in safe buildings, to relocate in case of predicted flooding, to obtain insurance against flood and other natural disasters, to easily access transportation during the evacuation, or to have ready cash needed to relocate in case of a potential threat. Floods occur at local (Palm Beach County), state….Click link below to purchase full tutorial at $10