Addressing health care politics has become an issue of paramount importance. As the present case demonstrates, it is not always evident for nurses how the process of policy-making develops and correlates with public health stakeholders’ consideration. To improve the situation, one should regard factors influencing the policy-making process, population health concerns, and strategies that nurses should pursue to enhance population and community health.
First and foremost, there are four main factors that refer to different dimensions and cumulatively apply leverage on health care policy. Political and legal issues constitute the first sphere of policy-making. Legislatures, executive boards, administrative agencies, and courts have the constitutional and legal authority to implement public policy and must be addressed; besides, there are nongovernmental participants, such as parties or interest groups, that interact with the primary policy-makers (Ubokudom, 2012). In the context of economy, health services corroborated by financial support should also be mentioned. Economic considerations have an effect on the type of services delivered and their costs: for example, “health professional services have accounted for the largest share of health care spending” (Ubokudom, 2012, p. 103). It is also vital to review social and cultural issues: depending on social stratification and lifestyle, people do not have equal opportunities and develop healthy or vicious habits. Finally, the health practitioner dimension includes patient need, demand for certain types of services, and their supply: ideally, patients demand what they need, and health providers have access to the necessary resources.
On condition that health policies are formulated, it is possible to identify the most significant population health concerns. According to the research conducted by Becker’s Hospital (2016), nowadays each state encounters different challenges. However, there are four population health concerns emphasized more frequently. The hospitals’ ability to provide patients with proficient care has been defined as the biggest problem. In other words, the primary task is to improve the quality of services and make them convenient. Another pressing concern deals with densely populated states: the hospitals lack employees. Many hospital CEOs, for example, in California, underscore that primary care and geriatric physicians are needed (Becker’s Hospital, 2016). In states with few metropolitan cities, reaching rural patients is the matter of primary concern. The rise of chronic diseases, especially hypertension, has also become a concern for public health.
Under such circumstances, the role of nurses is increasing. To meet new challenges and improve population and community health, the following nurse-led strategies may be implemented:
- Foster patient-oriented care via relationship-based, primary care (UC Irvine Health, n.d.). It is necessary to concentrate on individual patients. On the ground of patients’ needs, more attention should be paid to primary care enhancement.
- Focus on prevention and diagnosis (including interventions for patients with chronic diseases). Timeous aid will help diagnose diseases in early stages and raise the prospect of favorable outcomes.
- Develop educational approach. The task is not only to provide patients with information but also change their behavior for the better, for example, promote physical activity.
- Encourage participation in professional conferences and organizations. Professional contacts will help advance knowledge and maintain awareness of current medical achievements.
In conclusion, the process of developing health care policies is complex and requires combined effort in political, economic, social, cultural, and medical realms. To cope with numerous challenges in health care, it is vital to involve nurses. In the present-day situation, they should adopt several strategies concerning population and community health that will affect people’s health.
References
Becker’s Hospital. (2016). 50 states of population health. Web.
Ubokudom, S. (2012). United States health care policymaking: Ideological, social and cultural differences and major influences. Toledo, OH: Springer Science & Business Media.
UC Irvine Health. (n.d.) Advancing the future of healthcare – nursing strategic plan. Web.
Transition Of Adolescents With Severe Disabilities
Introduction
This paper assesses the transition-related strength of students with severe disabilities from the perspective of the educators, parents and the youth. It is based on various ratings for those students with severe disability by their teachers, parents and fellow students (Carter, Sun & Owens, 2009, p.74)
The writers have used several findings in the support of their arguments. Findings from the National longitudinal transition study, various books, and other assessments have provided a lot of backing in the preparation of this article (Carter, Sun & Owens, 2009, p.75). The authors interviewed all parties that interact with students having severe disabilities.
Statement of the Problem
The article provides an insightful revelation to the quality and effectiveness of special education and transition services. It exposes the failure by this very important sector of education to equip the needy students with relevant knowledge, skills and supports important to the realization of their goals for adulthood. In this article, the authors reveal that most of these needy youths, upon completion of their study, are still devoid of essential knowledge that would enable them to attain their adult life goals. They lack the capacity for independent living, participation in the community and other areas that would allow then to live normal lives in the society (Carter, Sun & Owens, 2009, p.75).
Research Questions
The research questions have been laid out. The authors’ purposes to answer the four research questions which they go-ahead to address in the rest of the paper. According to the authors, previous assessments have all concentrated on discrete skills areas such as reading fluency and social skills. Extant researches were more involved in the recognition of shortcomings portrayed by the disabled youth rather than on their strengths.
These earlier researches did not focus on the possibility of involving parents and other stakeholders in the transition planning thus bringing a lot of discontentment on the side of parents. The authors of this article sought to address the need for transition services and supports for youths with severe disabilities. Its authors are more concerned with addressing issues extending beyond the co-curricular areas and behavior. They focus on assessing the existing strengths of the disabled youths and also the possibility of involving other parties including these youths in the transition planning. This would avail additional information on transition planning.
Various populations are set to benefit from this change and include educators, parents, the disabled youths and their fellow normal youths. The result of the findings carried out on 160 disabled students in primary and secondary special education and 99 teachers have been summarized.
Results
The authors use statistical methods (e.g. the chi-square, t-distribution, percentages, tables and other variables) to present their interesting findings (Carter, Sun & Owens, 2009, p.78). Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the focus students by disability category. Table 2 is a presentation of the teacher ratings of the focus students by domain and the disability group. Table 3 presents the average ratings of transition domains, disability groups, and respondents while the final results table is a display of the percentage of the items for which respondents indicated whether they knew or was not appropriate to them. Figure 1 is a bar graph showing the average teacher ratings of the focus students by disability group and domain. Generally, these figures and tabulation add more validity to the results which answers the earlier addressed research questions to the fullest.
Limitations
Towards the end of this paper, the authors address the limitations of the research and offer a recommendation. Accordingly, they focused on ratings across items rather than item level ratings, did not collect comparison data among other shortcomings (Carter, Sun & Owens, 2009, p.90).
Summary and Recommendations
This article addresses the discrepancy between it and the traditional assessment research and provides a clear execution of the research. The findings have been analyzed and presented to give an easily understandable outcome. What is interesting about this article is the way its authors have used a variety of methods to come up with the results. I would recommend the use of more figures and a simpler language for a better understanding.
Reference
Carter, W. Sun, Y. & Owens, L. (2009). Assessing the transition related strengths and needs of adolescents with high-incidence disabilities, Council for exceptional children, Vol. 76, No- I. pp. 74-94.
Effective Interviewing Skills Of A Social Worker
When it comes to interviewing skills, social work is one of the fields where they play the key role. Read this essay to learn more about interviewing skills in social work practice.
Interviewing Skills in Social Work: Introduction
The significance of mastering the proper interviewing techniques cannot be overestimated. When a social worker knows the essential peculiarities of communication and is aware of the newest communication theories, he or she is more likely to help the people. It is vital to constantly upgrade one’s knowledge of interviewing techniques and assess one’s abilities. Knowing the limitations of one’s methods may help the social worker to find ways of overcoming them. Thus, feedback from colleagues and persistent work upon improving one’s skills are the factors that can greatly assist in shaping the interviewing techniques.
Social Work Interviewing Skills Examples
Effective interviewing involves much more than it may seem at first sight. It does not only mean asking questions and noting the answers. Some of the biggest challenges met by social workers are mastering the ability to paraphrase and provide empathetic responses. Empathy presupposes the understanding and evaluation of the client’s situation (Summers 120). An empathetic response involves hearing beyond what the person is saying, which is frequently a challenging task. Paraphrasing presents another challenge as not all social workers know how to apply it and reach a better agreement with the client (A. Evans et al. 586).
My Interviewing Skills: Social Work Analysis
What concerns the skills I have developed throughout the course, I would like to mention eye contact and the flow of the interview. I did not use to realize how important eye contact is during an interview. When a social worker does not maintain eye contact with a visitor, he/she may think that the interviewer is not interested in his/her case (D. Evans et al. 27). Thus, it is necessary to keep eye contact which will assure the clients that the interviewer is interested and supportive. Another skill I improved throughout the course is the flow of the interview. I used to let the clients speak uninterruptedly or ask questions which could sometimes change the course of the interview. Not I realize how important it is not to let anyone (me or the client) distract and alter the flow of the conversation.
Still, there are two skills I feel unconfident about and would like to improve. They are paraphrasing and giving appropriate emphatic responses. I need to learn to paraphrase to sound more understanding and sympathetic at the interviews. Emphatic responses skill is needed for my better comprehension of the clients’ problems. I plan to develop these skills by reading related articles and book chapters and asking for advice from my colleagues. Using specific literature and taking lessons from people’s personal experience will be the best ways of improving my interviewing techniques.
Social Work Interviewing Skills: Conclusion
Quality interviewing and case management are not only the means of communication with the clients. Appropriately chosen interviewing techniques and correctly applied management skills can help create social change in our professional area. If social workers do their best to pick the right methods and to use them in practice, they will help a lot of people to relieve their stress and pressure. Such changes will lead to having a more healthy and satisfied society. Also, people will become more willing to share their issues with the social workers if they feel a positive attitude and if they see that the interviews are bringing beneficial outcomes. Therefore, it is of outstanding importance for social workers to develop and constantly upgrade their communication and interviewing skills.
Works Cited
Evans, Angela D., et al. “The Use of Paraphrasing in Investigative Interviews.” Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 34, no. 8, 2010, pp. 585-592.
Evans, David R., et al. Essential Interviewing: A Programmed Approach to Effective Communication. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2017.
Summers, Nancy. Fundamentals of Case Management Practice: Skills for the Human Services. 5th ed., Cengage Learning, 2016.