Nursing

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:

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.
Create a problem statement.
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.
Discuss the impact on the health care delivery system.
Include three peer-reviewed sources and two other sources to support the policy brief.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

ANSWER

Policy Health Issue

Introduction

The natural environment has been considered as a thin layer that supports life and contains air, water, soil as well as living organisms. There is a significant relationship between the protection of human health and the natural environment. Ideally, there exist different environmental exposures such as air pollution, toxic chemicals, biological agents, and air pollution on the human body that have been considered s major problems to environmental health. This paper will focus on public health issues that are linked to environmental issues within the United States and their effect on a particular population.

The Policy Health Issue

Environmental health policies are considered a major section of the comprehensive public health system. These policies have worked to lower environmental exposures in soil, water, food, and air to protect individuals as well as offer communities a healthier environment (Franchini and Mannucci, 2015). Environmental health policies have aimed at balancing the protection of the environment as well as protecting human health. The environmental health policy can offer different elements linked to the local environment such as soil, water, and quality of air as well as the condition of the physical environment in terms of green space and land use.

One of the major health policy issues is the Clean Energy Act of 2009. The Clean Energy Act set forth the provision of efficient energy, clean energy, and reduced global warming pollution (Newell, Pizer, and Raimi, 2019). However, climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions has still been a problem that has led to adverse health problems. Green-house gases have had wide-ranging environmental and health impacts.

Ideally, they have led to climate change through trapping of heat as well as contributing to respiratory disease from air pollution and smog (Franchini and Mannucci, 2015). Greenhouse emissions have affected the entire population and have occurred at a national level since many companies within the United States produce carbon dioxide. Climate change which has been caused by greenhouse gases such as the warming effect, droughts, and floods is some of the evidence that has supported the impact of greenhouse emissions.

Problem Statement

Greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and synthetic chemicals have trapped some of the outgoing energy which is retained as heat in the atmosphere. The trapped heat leads to changes in the radiative balance of the earth. The balance between the retained heat and the heat emitted from the sun have altered the weather and climate patterns at regional and global scales (Luber and Lemery, 2015). Several lines of evidence have confirmed that global warming and the emission of greenhouse gases has been a result of human activities. However, human health has suffered great effects due to climate and weather changes. For instance, events such as hurricanes, storms, and high temperatures have compromised human waste treatment and drinking water. The government should develop health policies that will reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to promote a safe environment for the people. The government should focus on customized policies that are suitable for the climate change circumstances.

Addressing the Health Issue

The health of effects due to disruptions of the climate include cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, premature deaths and injuries that are linked to the geographical distribution of food, extreme weather changes, and water-borne illnesses. To address the health issues, there is a need for policy changes that will facilitate a long term investment. There is a need for policies that increase engagement and awareness of different industries that influence climate change through greenhouse emissions since it will lead to a more climate friendly investment.

Increased stakeholder participation and awareness in policy development may also lead to a measure of success due to feasible and credible policies to implement. One of the most effective policy changes would be carbon taxes. Ideally, carbon taxes have been introduced in various countries to increase energy efficiency as well as improve environmental performance and lower carbon emissions (Yin, Chen, Xu, and Zhang, 2020). Carbon taxes have led to a direct price on emissions which means that the greenhouse gas emitters have to be charged for every tonne of carbon emitted.

Steps Required To Initiate Policy Change

The following steps will be followed during initiating policy change;

1. Need identification – The first step is to ensure that a need to make policy changes has been identified to guide. The policy change will be developed in anticipation of need and response to need. The government and major stakeholders need to constantly assess its responsibilities and responses to the current policy to the health issues linked to climate change.
2. Identifying who will lead the policy change- This will include delegating responsibility to major stakeholders to facilitate policy change.
3. Gather relevant information- Gathering information will entail accessing all the relevant data related to the health policy issues as well as the alternatives that can facilitate appropriate policy changes.
4. Draft Policy Change- The policy change will be developed by experts and stakeholders such as the ministry of public health since they have relevant information and a better understanding of the health challenges that result from climate change.
5. Consult with relevant stakeholders – Policy changes are most efficient if those impacted are consulted and are supportive. They should be given a chance to evaluate and discuss the potential effects of the policy.

The Impact on the Health Care Delivery System.

The policy will protect the population since there will be reduced volumes of carbon emission in the atmosphere. The policy will offer an important contribution to the protection of health. Reducing carbon gas emissions significantly protects human health from in-direct and direct effects of climate change (Wang, Wang, and Huang, 2017). The reduction in emissions lower air pollution as well as respiratory disease. Many health co-benefits are linked to low emissions due to reduced cold and heat exposure thus creating wellbeing from nature and environmental determinants of health.

References

Franchini, M., & Mannucci, P. M. (2015). Impact on human health of climate changes. European journal of internal medicine, 26(1), 1-5.

Luber, G., & Lemery, J. (Eds.). (2015). Global climate change and human health: from science to practice. John Wiley & Sons.

Wang, C., Wang, W., & Huang, R. (2017). Supply chain enterprise operations and government carbon tax decisions considering carbon emissions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 152, 271-280.

Yin, X., Chen, X., Xu, X., & Zhang, L. (2020). Tax or subsidy? Optimal carbon emission policy: a supply chain perspective. Sustainability, 12(4), 1548.

Newell, R. G., Pizer, W. A., & Raimi, D. (2019). US federal government subsidies for clean energy: Design choices and implications. Energy Economics, 80, 831-841.