Policy, Power and Politics in Health Care

Running head: POLICY, POWER AND POLITICS IN HEALTH CARE
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Policy, Power and Politics in Health Care
Student’s Name
University

POLICY, POWER AND POLITICS IN HEALTH CARE
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Policy, power and politics in health care
Why a policy cycle is an appropriate tool for developing a new policy
A policy cycle is a series of stages that policy makers use to design policies. It is used to
define a standards process that can be followed by all policy makers to ensure that the policies
they make meet the required standards. Policies have to reflect universalism since they affect a b
road range of people. It is defined as a tool since it is used in analyzing policies to determine
whether they meet the requirements (Cummins, 2011). The tool was designed to achieve
uniformity in policy making and ensure that policy makers meet the required standards when
designing policies. Here the content and the quality of the policy is determined since an iterative
process is defined by the cycle. Through the tool, policy makers use each stage to identify
problems that may arise and evaluate available alternatives to mitigate the situation. Since each
stage is seen separately, it allows iterative working on the work to achieve the best alternative.
A policy cycle creates a common place for practitioners and other who lack experience in
the field of policy to use and make appropriate policies. Research has shown that not all public
servant have experience in policy making but rather the knowledge that they have in a particular
field becomes blended with policy cycles to create better policies for the organization (Everett,
2016). The cycle defines the healthcare process in a simple manner that allows forming of new
policies. Further, it allows those responsible for analysis and implementation to ask questions on
how the process can be improved or how it meets the intended objectives since the cycle allows
an iterative nature of reviewing policy elements.
Key sociological issues and how they determine a person’s state of health

POLICY, POWER AND POLITICS IN HEALTH CARE
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Sociological issues exist within the society that people live in and have consequences that
extend beyond the individual’s health. In healthcare, social determinants affect the level of
access to health that an individual has and how they respond to healthcare initiatives. Therefore,
sociological issues are conditions in which people are born, raised, work and live in (Pega,
Valentine, Rasanathan, Hosseinpoor, & Neira, 2017). This is an understanding of the social
effects that an environment has on the general health of an individual. These factors include,
income, housing, employment, food, early life, social support and education. Each of these
factors shapes and determines the level of access that an individual has towards healthcare since
they promote or inhibit access to health.
Sociological issues define the distribution of resources in the society and how the
resources are shared amongst all participants in the society. According to Raphael (2014) the
social determinants of health have a major impact on the outcome of any healthcare process.
When providing healthcare it is important to understand the sociological issues that affect a
population, thus the healthcare process should be designed based on the healthcare social
conditions of the population. These issues influence the response to healthcare and the approach
used to initiate a healthcare process. When the issues are not analyzed, disparities such as
discrimination can arise within a population thus leading to poor health outcomes. These factors
form the basis of policy and define the approach that practitioners use. Healthcare professional
need to understand the role that each factor plays in the process of healthcare and how it creates
barriers and opportunities that shape outcome.
Meaning of power in policy development and change