A1 Analysis of position papers for vulnerable populations

Develop a 4-6 page position about a specific health care issue as it relates to a target vulnerable population. Include an analysis of existing evidence and position papers to help support your position. Your analysis should also present and respond to one or more opposing viewpoints.

Introduction
Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
Position papers are a method to evaluate the most current evidence and policies related to health care issues. They offer a way for researchers to explore the views of any number of organizations around a topic. This can help you to develop your own position and approach to care around a topic or issue.
This assessment will focus on analyzing position papers about an issue related to addiction, chronicity, emotional and mental health, genetics and genomics, or immunity. Many of these topics are quickly evolving as technology advances, or as we attempt to push past stigmas. For example, technology advances and DNA sequencing provide comprehensive information to allow treatment to become more targeted and effective for the individual. However as a result, nurses must be able to understand and teach patients about the impact of this information. With this great power comes concerns that patient conditions are protected in an ethical and compassionate manner.
Position papers are a way for individuals, groups, and organizations to express their views and intentions toward a specific issue. In health care, many position papers address specific policies, regulations, or other approaches to care. As a master’s-prepared nurse, you should feel empowered to express and advocate for your own views on policy and care matters. This is especially important when it comes to populations you or your organization cares for that are not receiving the quality, type, or amount of care that they require.
An important skill in creating a position paper or policy proposal is the ability to analyze and synthesize others’ views about the population or issue of interest to you. By synthesizing the positive and negative views of an issue, you can become better equipped to strengthen your own arguments and to respond to opposing views in an informed and convincing way.

Preparation
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
⦁ What is the vulnerable population that most interests you?
⦁ What is the health issue that is most prevalent or severe in the population?
⦁ How does the health issue impact the daily lives of members of the population?
⦁ How does the care environment in your chosen context impact both the population and the level of care related to the health issue?
⦁ What are the biggest challenges that you would need to overcome to improve the outcomes for the population related to the health issue?
⦁ What is your position on how to best work to improve the care and outcomes that the population is receiving?
⦁ What previously published position papers support your position, or the need to work to improve care and outcomes in general for the population?
⦁ How do these position papers support your assertions?
⦁ How could one or more of the position papers help you to form a treatment plan?
⦁ What previously published position papers contradict your position?
⦁ What, if any, of these differences would make your position stronger if you incorporated them?
⦁ How could you respond to any irreconcilable differences in such a way as to encourage buy-in for your position from those opposed?
Assessment 1 will be based on an analysis of position papers that are relevant to a health care issue related to a vulnerable population. Think about your experience working with vulnerable populations, and the issues related to health care you have observed for those populations. Refer to the resources listed below:

⦁ Guiding Questions: Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations [DOC]. See additional attachments

⦁ Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research.
Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research
Introduction
Veterans
LGBTQ
Elderly
Conclusion

Introduction
Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research
Staying on top of the health challenges to diverse populations can be intimidating. Fortunately, there exists a wealth of information relevant to the situations of a wide variety of demographic groups. Consider these collections of resources as starting points from which you might move on to further research and build an annotated bibliography.

Veterans Issues
These resources may help in your research to build an annotated bibliography.
This set of diagnostic criteria is relevant to the issue:
Prescription drug abuse is on the rise. Substance abuse may vary depending on geographical area, age, rural vs. urban settings. Veterans who live in rural settings may not have access to adequate Veteran health care.
What are the symptoms of veteran substance abuse?
⦁ Decreased interest in personal hygiene and appearance.
⦁ Abnormal behavioral responses.
⦁ Abnormal mood swings.
⦁ Unexplained weight loss.
⦁ Lethargy and/or excessive sleepiness.
⦁ Sores on the face or mouth.
⦁ Watery or red eyes.
⦁ Giving up cherished activities.
⦁ Withdrawing from company.
⦁ Secretive behavior.
⦁ Spending money without being able to account for the expenses.
This data illuminates a problem related to this issue as well.
A higher percentage of female Veterans than male Veterans had a service-connected disability rating in 2009. A higher percentage of male Veterans used VA health care at all but a higher percentage of female Veterans used VA health care only. Female Veterans were more likely than male Veterans to be uninsured, have no earnings or income, and live below the poverty threshold.
Selected Characteristics of Veterans (in percent)
Has a service-connected disability
⦁ Male: 14.7
⦁ Female: 17.8
Uses VA health care
⦁ Male: 26.1
⦁ Female: 23.1
Uses VA only
⦁ Male: 3.8
⦁ Female: 4.8
No health insurance coverage
⦁ Male: 6.3
⦁ Female: 8.0
No earnings, no income
⦁ Male: 2.6
⦁ Female: 6.9
Below poverty
⦁ Male: 6.2
⦁ Female: 9.5

Conclusion
You have completed the Population Health Resources activity. These suggestions should give you an idea of other resources you can locate and include in your annotated bibliography.

Scenario
Pretend you are a member of an interprofessional team that is attempting to improve the quality of health care and the outcomes in a vulnerable population. For the first step in your team’s work, you have decided to conduct an analysis of current position papers that address the issue and population you are considering.
In your analysis you will note the team’s initial views on the issue in the population as well as the views across a variety of relevant position papers. You have been tasked with finding the most current standard of care or evidenced-based practice and evaluating both the pros and cons of the issue. For the opposing viewpoints, it is important to discuss how the team could respond to encourage support. This paper will be presented to a committee of relevant stakeholders from your care setting and the community. If it receives enough support, you will be asked to create a new policy that could be enacted to improve the outcomes related to your chosen issue and target population.
The care setting, population, and health care issue that you use for this assessment will be used in the other assessments in this course. Consider your choice carefully. There are two main approaches for you to take in selecting the scenario for this assessment:
⦁ You may use one of the issues and populations presented in the Vila Health: Health Challenges in Different Populations and Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research media pieces. For this approach, you may consider the population in the context of the Vila Health care setting, or translate it into the context in which you currently practice or have had recent experience.
⦁ You may select a population and issue that is of interest to you and set them in the context of your current or desired future care setting. While you are free to choose any population of interest, the issue you choose should fall within one of the following broad categories:
⦁ Genetics and genomics.
⦁ Sickle cell, asthma, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis.
⦁ Immunity.
⦁ Type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), congenital neutropenia syndrome.
⦁ Chronicity.
⦁ Arthritis, any type of cancer or lung or heart disease, obesity.
⦁ Addiction.
⦁ Abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, tobacco, illegal substances.
⦁ Emotion and mental health.
⦁ Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, eating disorders, psychosis.
Note: If you choose the second option, contact the FlexPath faculty for your section to make sure that your chosen issue and population will fit within the topic areas for this course.
Instructions
For this assessment you will develop a position summary and an analysis of relevant position papers on a health care issue in a chosen population. The bullet points below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your submission addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations Scoring Guide and Guiding Questions: Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations [DOC]
Guiding Questions
Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations
This document is designed to give you questions to consider and additional guidance to help you successfully complete the Analysis of Position papers for Vulnerable Populations assessment. You may find it useful to use this document as a pre-writing exercise or as a final check to ensure that you have sufficiently addressed all the grading criteria for this assessment. This document is a resource to help you complete the assessment. Do not turn in this document as your assessment submission.
Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
What is the specific health care issue that you are addressing?
What is the population affected by your chosen issue?
⦁ Why is this population relevant or important with regard to the issue?
What are the current states of care and health outcomes related to your chosen issue and target population?
What is your position on how to improve the care and outcomes related to your chosen issue and target population?
⦁ Why is it important to act on the position you are presenting?
Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
What interprofessional roles will be needed to facilitate the improvements that your position presents?
⦁ How will an interprofessional approach better facilitate improvements for your chosen issue and target population?
⦁ Why is it important that your position and facilitation take an interprofessional team approach?
Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
What other evidence and position papers have you found that discuss the need for improvements for your chosen issue or target population?
⦁ How do specific pieces of evidence or position papers support your position?
⦁ How do specific pieces of evidence or position papers act as guides for developing your position and implementation plans?
⦁ To what degree are specific pieces of evidence or positions applicable to your position?
Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
What other evidence and position papers have you found that are either contrary to your position or express a view that your chosen issue or target population do not need improvements to care or outcomes?
⦁ How do specific pieces of evidence or positions present contrary points of view?
⦁ To what degree are specific pieces of evidence or positions related to your position?
⦁ How would you respond to contrary viewpoints in an effort to illustrate the validity of your position or to build buy-in?
Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Have you effectively communicated your initial position?
Is your writing clear and professional?
Is your writing free from errors?
Is your submission 3–5 pages (not including the title page and reference list)?
Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.
Did you use 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that supports your initial position on the issue, as well as 2–3 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that express contrary views or opinions in your assessment?
⦁ Are the sources you used no more than five years old?
Are your sources cited in APA format?
Have you included an attached reference list?
Did you use the APA Style Paper Template for formatting to include running head and title page?
⦁ No abstract is needed for this assessment.

to better understand how each grading criterion will be assessed.
⦁ Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
⦁ Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.
Example Assessment
You may use the assessment example, linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.
Additional Requirements
⦁ Length of submission: 4-6 double-spaced, typed pages, not including the title and reference pages. Your plan should be succinct yet substantive. No abstract is required.
⦁ Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3-5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your initial position on the issue, as well as a minimum of 2-3 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that express contrary views or opinions. Resources should be no more than five years old.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
⦁ Competency 1: Design evidence-based advanced nursing care for achieving high-quality population outcomes.
⦁ Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Competency 2: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of interprofessional interventions in achieving desired population health outcomes.
⦁ Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Competency 3: Analyze population health outcomes in terms of their implications for health policy advocacy.
⦁ Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
⦁ Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
⦁ Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
⦁ Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.