Introduction to Population and Problem
The identified problem associated with the launch of health policy is linked to access to dental health care among the low-income population of Miami, Florida. Without insurance, dental care is quite expensive, and with the rising wage gap and the increase of the federal poverty rate, low-income populations do not have enough financial means to satisfy their oral health needs. It has been identified that only 48% of people (which is less than half of the US population) could afford an emergency expenditure of $400; therefore, it is often impossible to add a dental care plan on top of that (“Dental health problems in low-income populations,” 2017). It is imperative to introduce a policy that will address the identified problem and provide the community with the necessary resources.
Description of How the Policy Is Intended for a Specific Population
The proposed health care policy will be associated with offering several strategies such as the introduction of new payment methods for controlling the increases in price for improving access to healthcare. It will guarantee that all citizens of Miami, Florida will get enhanced access to dental care services within the modern environment of economic fluctuations and instabilities. Low-income citizens will benefit from the policy through the involvement of dental volunteers for serving adults and children. This is especially important due to the increased need for emergency assistance. More often than not, private dental doctors only treat their regular clients since they pay large sums of money for oral care services. The policy will address this problem as well since it will involve more volunteers to provide care on a non-payment basis.
Specific Legislators Involved in the Policy Development and Dissemination
If to mention a particular legislator involved in the promotion and the development of the policy, Nan H. Rich (a former Democratic leader in the Florida Senate) has worked toward the increase of health care access for the poor and the decrease of healthcare costs. Due to the unprecedented pressure on a large number of hospitals in Florida and Miami in particular, the low-income and uninsured populations face significant issues regarding access to affordable healthcare services (Rich, 2015). Mrs. Rich has been working with the governor and other legislators to provide equal access to healthcare for everyone.
Role of the APRN in Assisting with the Policy or Refuting the Policy
Because APRNs play a vital part in the promotion of health care and educating the population, their role with regards to the policy is associated with encouraging the participation of dental care professionals that will provide low-income communities with affordable care. Moreover, as Most APRNs are licensed and trained to provide a vast range of primary care services (Federal Trade Commission, 2014), they can participate in the provision of dental care for the low-income population in the case when they are offered appropriate training.
How the Policy Influences Clinical Practice and is Used to Promote Best Outcomes
The primary goal of the introduced policy is to ensure improved access to health care services for the vulnerable and low-income populations in Miami, Florida. This means that the promotion of the best possible outcomes within the clinical practice will be directly linked with how well the policy will be integrated into the usual processes of healthcare facilities. The more dental doctors are involved in the provision of affordable care for low-income populations, the more improvements will be seen with regards to the clinical practice. Overall, it is expected that clinical professionals will benefit from the introduction of the policy due to the increased flow of patients and thus more opportunities for enhancing the clinical practice and improving the quality of care provided to low-income populations of Miami.
How the Policy Can Be Used by the Interprofessional Team
The policy can be used for disseminating efforts of different role-players involved in the establishment of a cohesive and coordinated performance of an interprofessional team. It is expected that dental care doctors will complete the largest bulk of work; however, the interprofessional team members will have other roles in the policy implementation, including patient education, support, referral, and follow-ups. It is essential that the members collaborate for developing a coordinated and comprehensive plan of care to cater to the needs of low-income patients in need of high-quality dental care services (FDI World Dental Federation, 2015).
Conclusion
It has been identified that issues of access to affordable health care for the low-income populations of Miami contribute to the decrease in the quality of provided dental health services and a subsequent worsening of patient outcomes. With the support from Florida’s legislators, the community, and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, the introduced health policy is expected to increase the reach of affordable health care services and ensure that the low-income and vulnerable populations receive appropriate care. It is advised to monitor the implementation of the policy and measure the populations’ outcomes regarding access to dental care in order to make appropriate changes for catering to the population’s needs.
References
Dental health problems in low income populatons. (2017). Web.
FDI World Dental Federation. (2015). Optimal oral health through inter-professional education and collaborative practice.
Federal Trade Commission. (2014). Policy perspectives: Competition and the regulation of advanced practice nurses.
Rich, N. (2015). Florida’s working poor are facing a terminal diagnosis.
Weight Watchers And Jenny Craig Companies: Customer Strategies
Steps of a consumer decision process
The first priority will entail the cost of the program. Going on a diet program at either Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig will demand some expenses. I will compare the overall expenditure of undertaking the dieting program in both organizations. The second consideration to make will be my personal needs in the dieting program (Grewal & Levy, 2012). The needs of a personal weight loss vary from one individual to another. It is important to bear in mind whether the services being offered at a weight loss program are in tandem with the personal demands. For example, the available exercise programs and food samples to be taken should be compatible with my expectations. Finally, accessibility of the dieting program is another area of consideration. It will only be possible to attend a weight loss program if it is accessible or within the reach of a client. Distance plays a vital role in the decision making process.
Value creation
Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig have created value in various ways. For example, Weight Watchers has employed technology to assist members to track food consumption. The level of exercise can also be monitored using an electronic device. Cell phone applications have been developed to assist the Weight Watchers clients to track down the entire dieting process. Hence, technology has added value in the provision of services to members. Jenny Craig prepares and packages specific meals to be used by members. This adds value to the entire dieting program because it ensures positive results, since members cannot engage in unhealthy dietary intake contrary to the proposals of the dieting program. Jenny Craig also targets members based on gender. There is a special program for men who want to lose weight (Grewal & Levy, 2012). The program is tailored to specific concerns that may arise from the male gender.
Outstanding differences
In terms of the determinant attributes that distinguish Weight Watchers from Jenny Craig, it is imperative to mention that both men and women programs for weight reduction at Weight Watchers are the same. On the other hand, Jenny Craig has a specialized program for men. Besides, Weight Watchers makes use of electronic devices to assist clients in the dieting process. However, Jenny Craig does not use such devices. Moreover, Weight Watchers does not prepare and package foods to be eaten by members. It is the duty of the individual clients to prepare their own foodstuffs, but follow all the dieting rules stipulated in the exercise and eating manuals (Grewal & Levy, 2012).
Customer satisfaction
Both Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig can boost the probability of customer satisfaction in various ways. First, each of the companies can offer high quality services. The latter defiantly results into positive feedbacks from clients. Other customer satisfaction methods include accessibility of services offered, provision of tailor made services, affordability of the program and trustworthiness in service provision (Grewal & Levy, 2012).
Propensity
Consumers’ propensity to enroll in a diet program can be significantly impacted by obesity and other health-related complications that arise from food intake and lifestyle. Besides, the accessibility and affordability of the services offered by the two companies may also compel clients to be enrolled in the physical fitness program. Needles to say, the reliability and effectiveness of the weight loss program can also attract consumers to be enrolled at either Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig (Grewal & Levy, 2012).
Reference
Grewal, D & Levy, M. (2012). M: Marketing. New York: McGraw Hill. Web.
Terrorism Evolution From 1972 To 2016
Abstract
Terrorism has evolved over time from being a domestic threat to an intractable global concern. Globally, no country is immune to the heinous acts of terror meted out on innocent people by a minority group, who are hell-bent on advancing their ideologies through unorthodox means. Due to the extent of loss of human lives and vandalism of both private and public property, countries across the world have developed counter-terrorism strategies and are always on high terrorist alert.
Governments have devised advanced technology gadgets for screening at airports and border points, not forgetting increased vigilance of citizens via surveillance cameras, and tapping of phone calls and email conversations. Despite the several techniques, which governments have employed to curb terror, these strategies only ameliorate but do not eliminate terrorism. The war on terrorism is far from over and requires continual concerted worldwide efforts.
Thus, the essay highlighted the evolution of terrorism over the years from 1972 to 2016 by examining attacks on sporting events, commercial airliners and trains, recruitment of women, domestic terrorism, use of mobile phone technology and the internet, bio- and cyber-terrorism and gender-based violence.
Introduction
The thought of terrorism is appalling due to the negative impact it has had on humanity. Terrorism, aside from destroying property, has claimed many innocent lives in many countries. Terrorists engage in horrific activities due to a number of reasons, including religious and political bigotries, to cause revolutions of poor social and government systems, and in some cases, to satisfy personal predilections. The driving force behind terrorism is to instill fear among people so that extremists can advance ideologies that only bode well with a minority of the populace. In this perspective, this essay gives a chronology of some of the major terror acts that depict how this global threat has been gradually changing.
Targeting Sporting Events
In 1972, eight gun-wielding members of the Palestinian terrorist group ‘Black September’ kidnapped and later massacred eleven Israeli athletes at the Berlin Olympic Games (Spaaij, 2016). They did this to have 234 prisoners jailed in Israel, and four members of the Red Army incarcerated in Germany released. Israel retaliated by bombing Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) zones in Syria and Lebanon, causing deaths of over 200 people.
These killings were a manifestation of the magnitude of political intolerance between the nations of Israel and Palestine. This act left an indelible stain on a country that had initially exterminated Jews and put Israel and Germany at loggerheads. The Munich killings marked the beginning of terrorism in sports and changed the modalities that go into organizing and preparing global sporting events. The Palestinians exported a regional conflict across international borders into the country that had nothing to do with their feud with Israelis.
Attack on the Military
The early 1980s saw terrorists start targeting military bases and property as opposed to civilians. On 23 October 1983, extremists bombarded the US marine barracks in Beirut to compel the United States to remove troops from Lebanon (Weiner, 2015). A similar attack on the US military base reoccurred on 31 December 2009, when Al Ka Dau, permeated a US base in Afghanistan and exploded a suicide vest, annihilating 8 members of the Central Intelligence Agency and 241 marines.
Earlier on, in 2000, Al Qaeda had shelled the USS Cole, a naval vessel that had stopped to refuel in the Arabian Peninsula. This attack was reminiscent of the first terrorist attack on a US warship in 1987. The 2000 event claimed 17 lives while injuring 39 others. The attack on the military shows the conviction of jihadists to perpetuate their course.
Assault on airliners
The mid to late 1980s recorded the downing of many commercial flights. The bombings of Air India and Pan Am flights in 1985 and 1988 respectively noted an upcoming trend targeting commercial airliners. The 1988 explosion of the Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie Scotland caused the death of many people (Thomas, 2015). The terrorists, later on, professed that the attack was a sign of the hatred for America. The attack on airplanes was a wake-up call to tighten aviation security and led to the adoption of counterterrorism methods. Airports use metal detectors to screen passengers and luggage, something that has heightened their security. The counter-terrorism measures have proven to be effective, as they have reduced the number of terrorist activities involving aircraft.
Involvement of Women
Since time immemorial, terrorism has always been male-dominated; however, this trend has changed. Women have taken a cue from men and joined the fray of global terrorism, especially in war-torn areas (Davis, 2013). Davis avers that terrorism has taken a new twist, with women joining terrorist organizations, and increasingly being involved in jihadist activities. A woman by the name Dhanu strapped explosives to herself that she later exploded, killing her and the prime minister of India, Rajiv Ghandi, in 1991 (Cruise, 2016).
Currently, many women have joined terrorist groups and have become suicide bombers. Years later, the International Police has implicated several women in global terrorist activities. For stance, Samantha Lethwaite alias, the ‘black widow’ is a notorious woman who has links with the Somali terrorist group, the Al-Shabaab.
Domestic Terrorism
Terrorists are not always foreign nationals as on 19 April 1995, the Oklahoma City bombings symbolized a new type of perpetrators of horror. Timothy McVeigh, an American, committed a felony by loading explosives onto a truck and exploding them before a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people (Ward & Pilat, 2016).
He was dissatisfied with the government, and this was how he protested. The attack heralded the dawn of domestic terrorism, acknowledged by former President Bill Clinton when he said that the enemies share the US borders and religious affiliations. McVeigh was neither an outsider nor a Muslim, and his execution in 2001 was the US’s penal code stance on punishing terrorist acts. He used a different type of explosive, which is fertilizer mixed with fuel that he made after indoctrinating himself by reading a book, ‘The Turner Diaries.’ Though the government adopted stringent counter-terrorism strategies, it did not prevent it from suffering subsequent acts of terror.
Hijackings and Crashing
In September 2001, Al-Qaeda militants hijacked American airliners and crashed them into the twin towers. The attack was the biggest terror attack on US soil since the Oklahoma City bombing, leaving the survivors traumatized many years post-attack (Triantafyllou, North, Zartman & Roediger, 2015). The event marked a new technique of terror, which entailed targeting public transportation systems, hijacking airplanes, and crashing them into buildings.
These techniques deviate from the conventional methods of using explosives or demanding for ransom. The act provoked the United States to embark on a military excursion in Afghanistan, with the mission to seize the terror group’s ultimate leader, Osama Bin Laden, which eventually led to his capture and death in 2011. The planning that led to the attacks revealed a high level of organization and networking. The theme behind the attacks was to coerce the US to remove its troops from Saudi Arabia.
Bioterrorism
The year 2001 marked a revolution of terrorism by the release of highly pathogenic biological agents. The dissemination of anthrax spores in the United States in 2001 by terrorists ushered in the era of a new kind of threat, the bioterrorism. The postal anthrax spores claimed 5 lives and infected 17 people, and Al Qaeda has long expressed interest in procuring the deadly biological agents, let alone manufacturing them (Taylor, Margaritis, Nasir, Borrion, & Lai, 2013).
The increase in biotechnological knowledge and disparity in biomedical laboratory security increase the prospects of terrorist outfits getting hold of biological weapons. The possibility of such an eventuality underscores the need to devise strategies for curbing bioterrorism. Possible strategies include the development of effective and fast biosensors to detect deadly biological agents that anarchists have leaked.
Mobile Phone Technology
The 2002 and 2004 explosions in Bali and Spain, respectively, saw the adoption of technology in terrorism (Bieda & Halawi, 2015). In both bombings, Muslim radicals used synchronized cell phone alarms to detonate bombs. The Spain attacks confirmed terrorists’ foray into targeting public transportation systems. Police investigations reveal that the terrorists conducted reconnaissance prior to the attacks, and even established a base from which they stocked explosives.
The money used to perpetrate this horror was proceeds from drug trafficking, which the terrorists exchanged for explosives stolen from a mine by Spaniard criminal gangs. This shows a network of criminal gangs and money generated through illegal dealings as opposed to previous cases where the Al-Qaeda terror group were the sponsors of terror. Interrogation of arrested terrorists by the police further showed that a majority of them had a jihadist ideology, which the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 inspired.
Use of the Internet
The advent of the Internet led to increased communication and connectivity among people. Terrorists have embraced the Internet to perpetuate their extremism on a global scale (Bogdanoski, Risteski, & Bogdanoski, 2015).
Al Qaeda uses the Internet in a number of ways, such as online recruitment, propaganda, sourcing for information, acquiring funds, and coordinating attacks. Islamic States of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) also use the Internet for they have taken to social media to recruit members and spread propaganda through Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. ISIS videos of beheadings and other forms of executions have earned them worldwide attention (Bieda & Halawi, 2015). The airing of Al Qaeda and ISIS’s violent videos and the media’s over-coverage of their horrific activities have contributed to their popularity besides increasing the size of the target population they aim to radicalize, and ultimately recruit.
Re-targeting of Sporting Events
The 2013 Boston explosions are a recurrence of tact employed by the jihadists. Targeting sporting events by terrorists is not a new development, as evidenced by the Munich massacre (Spaaij, 2016). However, the detonation of explosives by domestic tourists during a marathon was new. The perpetrators were brothers, who the police apprehended within a short time, after a statewide manhunt. This gesture was suggestive of the effective counter-terrorism methods in place even during sporting events, albeit they did not prevent the explosions. Later on, the brothers stated that the Islamic jihadists had indoctrinated them online, a confirmation of jihadists’ heavy reliance on the Internet to propagate mayhem.
Gender-based Violence
The 2014 kidnapping of 260 girls of Chibok Secondary School by the Boko Haram was the first time jihadists were abducting women in large numbers. The abduction attracted attention to an evolving area of modern terrorism and gender-based violence (Zenn & Pearson, 2014). Prior to the Boko Haram abductions, gender-related violence in terrorism was an area that people had overlooked, despite being rampant.
Boko Haram’s raping and impregnating of the schoolchildren traumatized them and forced members of the feminist movement to bring it to the fore as a change of tactic by terrorists. Mutilation and infliction of long-term psychological instability on schoolchildren by terrorists were a gesture the world had not seen on such a grand scale before. Students represent yet another change of terrorists’ target population.
Raid on Journalism Facility
The January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks indicated that terrorists sometimes target people they perceive as vulnerable. The terrorists interpreted the cartoons representing Prophet Mohammed as libel. Two terrorists armed with guns infiltrated the satirical magazine’s editorial room and shot the staff, killing 17 people and injuring 22 in France (Ben-Ezra, Leshem, & Goodwin, 2015). These attacks shook the whole world resulting in the global observance of a minute of silence for the slain journalists. Although terrorists normally kidnap journalists, the invasion of the newspaper room was a break from the norm. Nevertheless, the assault on journalists sees a continuation of intolerance towards Westerners and their beliefs.
Cyber Terrorism
Jihadists’ knowledge and prowess on the Internet and computing technology have raised terrorism to a completely new level (Bogdanoski, Risteski, & Bogdanoski, 2015). The escalating cases of cyber terrorism indicate the evolution of terrorist groups that people thought had been suppressed through military strikes (Bieda & Halawi, 2015). The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have attempted to hack the United States’ computers that control the country’s electricity grid.
Additionally, ISIL proponents have continued to post photos and video footage of cockpits and embarked on discussions about how they aspire to sneak explosives onto airplanes and blow them up. Though the ISIL and Al Qaeda have not succeeded in infiltrating the United States’ intelligence, electricity, and database servers, cybersecurity experts should treat cyber terrorism as an imminent threat and seal all loopholes.
Conclusion
Terrorism has undergone fundamental transformations from mere kidnappings for ransom to killings for revenge reasons. Additionally, the target for terrorists has changed from innocent civilians to public figures and soldiers. Modern terrorists also target trains, airplanes, military camps, sea vessels, and conventional public buildings. Terrorism is no longer a preserve for males for women who have increasingly been involved in extremism.
The mode of highlighting victories and recruiting new members is not majorly via videotapes but through social media such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. The driving force behind the terror attacks varies, but the bottom line is that all terrorists advance their selfish agendas by using fear. These changes in tactics display the randomness and dynamic nature of terrorism. Dynamism has made it very difficult to predict the type or nature of the next act of terror. As terror is indiscriminate and unpredictable, all countries are always alert.
References
Ben-Ezra, M., Leshem, E., & Goodwin, R. (2015). In the wake of national trauma: Psychological reactions following the Charlie Hebdo terror attack. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(8), 795-796.
Bieda, D., & Halawi, L. (2015). Cyberspace: A venue for terrorism. Issues in Information Systems, 16(3), 33-43.
Bogdanoski, M., Risteski, A., & Bogdanoski, M. (2015). Steganography in support of the global Terrorism. Information and Communication Security, 42(1), 15-28.
Cruise, R. (2016). Enough with the stereotypes: Representation of women in terrorist organizations. Social Science Quarterly, 97(1), 33-43.
Davis, J. (2013). Evolution of the global jihad: Female suicide bombers in Iraq. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 36(4), 279-291.
Spaaij, R. (2016). Terrorism and security at the Olympics: Empirical trends and evolving research agendas. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 1-18.
Taylor, J., Margaritis, D., Nasir, Z, Borrion, H., & Lai, H. (2013). The role of protection measures and their interaction in determining building vulnerability and resilience to bioterrorism. Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, 4(1), 123-136.
Thomas, M. (2015). Flying lessons: Malaysia and other airlines avoiding Pan Am’s final destination. Strategic direction, 31(8), 26-28.
Triantafyllou, D., North, C., Zartman, A., & Roedigler, H. (2015). A Deese-Roediger-McDermott study of trauma memory among employees of New York City companies affected by the September Ii, 2001, attacks. Annals of clinical psychiatry, 27(3), 165-174.
Ward, J., & Pilat, S. (2016). Terror, Trauma, Memory: Reflections on the Oklahoma City bombing- An introduction. Social Science Quarterly, 97 (1), 1-8.
Weiner, J. (2015). The war on American diplomacy: ISIS, Al Qaeda and Taliban’s sustained attacks on peaceful missions abroad. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 3(1), 487-450.
Zenn, J., & Pearson, L. (2014). Women, gender, and the evolving tactics of Boko Haram. Journal of Terrorism Research, 5(1), 1-17.