The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Legislation

This week we will start to add policy enhancements to our systems maps. The map you submit this week will include the health issue and the policy enhancements and the social determinants and behaviors from the last map. Following is a description of the minimum policy components that should be added to the map: US Federal Policy. You should include a minimum of two federal policies (laws, regulations, other guidance, orders, etc.) that are essential components of a system related to your health issue. These should be other than the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Focus on the law or regulation and not any funding that comes from it; you will add its specific funding outcomes next week. ACA Provision. You should include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and include at least one provision. State Policy. You should include at least one, preferably two, state policies that are influential on your health issue in the state upon which your map is based. Local Policy. You should include one or more local policies that are influential. These can be county, city, or other local jurisdictions based on how you are constructing your system. Requirements: A. For each policy area above, include details on your map. Be sure to include "nodes" that describe specific aspects of each policy and link those aspects to the behaviors and social determinants. B. In the narrative and literature review, provide a written narrative that summarizes sufficient detail about each policy you include on the map. • Include a summary of the policies' impacts and outcomes and how each influences the health issue in your community. • Your narrative should indicate that you have conducted sufficient research about the policy to understand it, consider it, and apply it to your system. • Include citations in the narrative and a list of references using the appropriate format for policy documents. • Although not on this particular page of your map, provide a brief description of how these policies influence the behaviors and social determinants that were on your previous map (social and behavioral enhancements). Guidelines: • Do not simply list the policy in any of the above levels. Provide sufficient detail on your map in the form of nodes that indicate you have carefully considered the policy and identified specific parts of the policy or specific ways that the policy gets operationalized and thereby influences other system components. • Research is essential. The point here is not to simply identify policy components, but to research them and fully understand them. Conduct as much research as possible to learn about how the policy has been influential. • Remember----this is about the SYSTEM, not just your health issue. Be broad in your research and demonstrate that you have considered the system impacts on your issue. This is not just about the issue itself and your policy selections should demonstrate that you are using systems thinking. This is not a paper about a health issue---this is about the system and how all of its components influence each other. Conducting Research Policy research is not systematic. There is not a single database that includes everything like you typically use for finding scientific literature. It will be frustrating and will take time. Our governmental system is not organized for public consumption in terms of finding policies, and this is one of the reasons it is often not well understood by our citizens. There are two databases to which Ohio University has access for students that can help with finding federal policy. Nexis Uni and ProQuest Congressional. See the links in the policy guide and try them. Some people will find them helpful and others will be able to find the same information from other sources. Nexis Uni is particularly easy to use---it is like Google for legal research. Use the Policy Resource Guide that has been provided in Blackboard. Take the time to look at the links, even if not in your area, to give you an idea of the various resources. You will also simply need to "Google" things. Use combinations of searches that include issues, the word "policy," search for "local, state, federal, US," use a range of terms like law, policy, regulation, statute, order. For the ACA in particular, definitely start with the link provided for the ACA provisions. Read through all of them and identify the ones that seem to be appropriate. Not because they address your health issue, but because they are influential upon the system.