Public Health Action Plan

The purpose of the course project is to provide the opportunity for you to bring together the most important concepts you have learned in this course and to apply them to addressing a realistic problem in public health. When you review the Scoring Guide, you will see that you are being asked to use all of the competencies developed and reinforced in this course to address a health concern of your choice. However, there is significant help available along the way. Each of your assignments in this course addresses some aspect of the Public Health Action Plan, asking you to build these elements as you might in the field. After submitting each assignment, you will receive feedback from your instructor before you submit the next assignment. By the time you develop your draft in Unit 8, you will have worked through most of the ideas and approaches needed, one unit at a time. Your final Public Health Action Plan then, due at the end of the course, captures a concrete way that your learning can be used to benefit your community.

Advocacy for action to address particular concerns is a key component of public health administration, in both private and public agencies. The concerns addressed may be specifically health-oriented, such as childhood obesity and prenatal care, or simply health-related, such as disaster planning and environmental issues. Either way, advocacy means proposing taking action to prevent, intervene, or remediate in the interest of public health. Your course project involves identifying an issue that has local relevance for a particular community, explaining the importance of that issue for the local community, and recommending a course of action to be taken to address the issue.

Action Plan Structure

The final action plan consists of a document with the following sections:

• Cover sheet and Table of Contents.

• Executive Summary. Provide a one-paragraph summary of the identified public health concern and the proposed action plan.

• The Problem Statement. Describe the issue, including:

o A clear, detailed description of the problem or issue you selected.

o An explanation of why this issue is important to public health, and why it is particularly important to the local community involved, supported by credible objective evidence (measures, reports, or statistics).

o The case for the need to expend public resources to address this issue.

• Possible solutions. Summarize possible approaches to addressing the issue, including:

o Significant advantages and disadvantages of at least two different approaches in relation to the chosen community.

o A description of at least two organizations that might have a stake in addressing this issue in this community, and your analysis of the pros and cons of each organization in the role of leading the initiative.

o An assessment of the opportunities for a public-private partnership to provide significant support to address the health concern.

o An analysis of any legal or ethical concerns involved in addressing this issue.

• Recommended Action Plan. Describe the details of the approach that you are advocating, including:

o A clear statement of public health goals to be achieved.

o Specific actions to be taken.

o Organization(s) to be involved, including:

Organization taking the lead.
Potential public/private partnership(s) involved.

o Human and financial resources required to enact the plan.

o Information system components required to support the enactment of the plan.

o A description of how the action plan results will be evaluated. (Note that this section may be written in any order, as long as all of the elements are included.)

• References. Provide a reference list in APA style and formatting.

Project Objectives

To successfully complete this project, you will be expected to:

1. Describe a particular health concern, including the affected population, the danger to the public, and key stakeholders.

2. Evaluate existing organizations that might have a stake in effectively addressing a particular health concern.

3. Describe public health goals based on a shared vision with a public health organization.

4. Assess opportunities for a public-private partnership to address a particular health concern.

5. Create a detailed plan for addressing a particular health issue, including actions to be taken, the organization that will lead, and the resources required to achieve specific goals.

6. Describe the role of information systems in carrying out a public health action plan.

7. Analyze legal and ethical principles that apply to addressing a particular health concern.

8. Apply effective academic writing skills.