Analyzing Policy Development, Power, and Sociological Issues in Health

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between policy development and power dynamics within the realm of public health. It begins by establishing the policy cycle as an appropriate tool for crafting new policies, emphasizing its structured approach and iterative nature. The essay then examines key sociological issues and their profound impact on an individual's state of health, highlighting the influence of socioeconomic status, cultural norms, and religious beliefs. Furthermore, it analyzes the concept of power in policy development and change, identifying different forms of power and their effects on decision-making. The essay also addresses policy considerations for a national obesity health campaign and proposes factors for creating a smoke-free environment in a university setting, including the need for policy, existing policies, exceptions, and maintenance responsibilities. Desklib offers this essay, along with many other solved assignments and study tools, to aid students in their academic pursuits.

Running head: POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND POWER 1
Policy Development and Power
Name
Institution

POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND POWER 2
Why is policy circle an appropriate tool for developing a new policy?
Policy circle is a framework that is used to analyze different stages of policy with an aim
of improving the health outcomes. By using the policy circle, the policy making members seeks
to address an open issue by establishing laws, guidelines, choices, or even activities that are
relevant to the current issue. A public cycle contains three steps which includes agenda-setting,
option formulation as well as the implementation of the policy. The policy cycle is an
appropriate tool for developing a new policy because it places the issue to be solved at the center
by dividing the policy process into a progression of stages from a notional beginning stage at
which policy makers start to consider an approach issue to the notional end where they actualize
the answer for the issue. The continuous process of this cycle which enables the policymakers to
think of how successful the policy is before taking another action ensures that legislative,
executive approvals and consent seeking is achieved before modifying or continuing with the
policy. According to Althaus, Bridgman and Davis (2013) the policy cycle is used by the policy
members to understand and structure the development of policy by breaking the policy process
into clear and identifiable steps. Therefore, policy circle is an appropriate tool because it conveys
the movements of ideas and resources, simplifies the complicated phenomena into practicable
processes, synthesizes the existing knowledge about a policy by using the appropriate literature
at different levels of the policy making and acknowledges the non-linear nature of policy
making. It is important to note that policy cycle emphasizes on fluid policy making by
identifying the aims, policies to achieve those aims, as well as the necessary resources required
so as to implement and evaluate the policy. Policy cycle tool thus helps policy makers to
describe a more meaningful and realistic analytical more for policy making hence its
appropriateness.

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What are key sociological issues and how do they determine a person’s state of
health?
The key sociological issues address the connection between the general public and
wellbeing, specifically how public activity impacts the mortality and grimness rates and how
mortality and dreariness rates sway the general public (Bury, 2013). It likewise looks at the
wellbeing and ailment in connection to social establishments like family, work, religion just as
the reasons for wellbeing and infections, explanations for seeking specific sorts of care, tolerant
consistence and resistance. According to Bury and Gabe (2013), the sociological key issues
provide insight on what external factors causes diseases and illnesses. The key issues exhibit that
the spread of sicknesses is intensely affected by the financial status of people, ethnic conventions
and convictions just as other social elements. The key sociological issues decide an individual's
condition of health by not only affecting the life expectancy but also the possibilities that one
may experience other diseases and the type of care they may receive. The food that people in a
given society consume may pose health risks or become beneficial to one’s health. Bad eating
habits may lead to health risks like diabetes, obesity and heart diseases. However, a society that
views some body types and images in certain ways for instance weight gain is seen as a sign of
health in societies with scarce food influences the eating habits of people in that culture. Cohn
(2014) argues that the socioeconomic stats of an individual reflects an individual’s health and
longevity. Higher level of education and income determines a good start of life right from
infancy, however, people from other societies cannot provide a better health care to their children
because they cannot afford it. Religion and spirituality also determine a person’s state of health
as it helps regulate people’s behaviors and health habits, emotions and feelings. This is because

POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND POWER 4
religion and spirituality are associated with good health habits which helps to promote and
protect healthy lifestyles.
What is meant by the term power in policy development and change?
Power is one of the core components in policy development and change process.
Important are the distinctive roles of the actors who use their power to influence the process. In
policy development and change, power is the observable decision-making process which helps
shape the meaning in the society by influencing how other policy makers think, the beliefs that
have dominated as well as how different people view themselves. Power has the capacity to
influence the patterns and effectiveness of policy development and change by using the
conscious and unconscious thoughts to solve the problem at hand. According to Meyer and
Benavot (2013), power in policy development and change is the use of both inductive and
deductive methods so as to come up with the best decisions in regards to specific issues. The
adequate account of the policy development and change process must be able to identify the
likelihood of limits to the autonomy of the actor which may come up from the interactions of
individuals with structures in place. There are different forms of power used by different actors.
These incorporate relational power which identifies with the assets, associations just as the
results that exists among various on-screen characters, dispositional power which utilizes
standards and assets to shape the intensity of the actors and structural power which is formed by
the small scale societal structures. According to Mwisongo, Nabyonga-Orem, Yao, and Dovlo
(2016), in policy development and change, recognizing and appreciating the different forms of
power is very essential since it offers a basis for effectively using power. It is therefore important
to note that people in power positions are more equipped to make decisions and they therefore
tend to think more abstractly about the complex questions.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND POWER 5
What policy considerations should be included in a national obesity health campaign?
To reverse the rising tide of obesity and overweight in the country, there are several
policy considerations that should be included in the campaign. These considerations should be
able to promote equality of opportunity by not adversely affecting communities in regards to age,
race, sex, disability, gender and cultural beliefs. The first policy consideration is the nutrition
standards for food and beverages in the public and child care settings. Developing a policy that
encourages all public settings to serve low fat foods and beverages reduces people’s abilities to
have access to high fat and cholesterol foodstuffs. The government should ensure that the
nutrition standard for all the food served in public places meet this criterion so as to help reduce
and prevent obesity. Another policy consideration is encouraging engaging in exercise and
physical activities by establishing physical activity areas and parks as well providing resources
necessary for the activities. Many people tend to engage in exercise and physical activities when
they have the required motivation. Establishing accessible and free activity areas will encourage
most people who lack the required resources to engage in such activities (Walls, Peeters,
Proietto, & McNeil, 2011). Another policy consideration is to teach the society to only consume
food when they are hungry by encouraging the intake of fruits at least four times a day.
Unnecessary and frequent consumption of food leads to obesity. It is therefore important for the
public to learn wats of preventing obesity. The government should also provide resources on
health programs that reduces obesity. The last policy consideration is ensuring that all public
institutions and organizations offer programs that promote healthy eating activities. These

POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND POWER 6
programs should involve teaching and practical activities that promote healthy eating habits (Lyn
et al., 2013). It is easier to learn from an institution and put the policy into practice in this way.
If you were to create a new policy to develop a smoke free environment for the university,
what factors would you include and why?
Developing a new policy for a smoke free environment for the university is a complex
and multifaceted process which involves the interplay of different parties. Creating a smoke free
environment in the university is very essential as it presents a consistent message that smoking is
harmful to individuals state of health and their future. One factor that I would include when
creating the policy is the need for the policy by identifying the anticipation of the need or the
response on the need. By constantly assessing the activities, responsibilities and external
environment, I will clear identify and define the need for having a smoke free environment in the
school. This will be possible by including the input from the population that will be affected by
the policy (Jancey et al., 2014). I will also include the existing policies so as to ensure that the
policy I am creating is not in existence or its portions does not exist in other policies. This is to
avoid an overlap of policies as well as ensure that the policy is capable of closing any existing
gaps in smoking policies of the university. Additionally, I will include the exceptions in the
process. This is because some situations may arise that require exceptions like doctor’s
prescription. It is much easier to define an exception in advance before implementing the policy
(Lee, Goldstein, Klein, Ranney, & Carver, 2012). Lastly, I will include the policy maintenance
responsibility. This is because smoke free environment policies require periodic reviews so as to
ensure their continued applicability. The maintenance responsibility will also ensure information
clarification to the questions that may be raised concerning the policy.

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References
Althaus, C., Bridgman, P., & Davis, G. (2013). The Australian policy handbook (pp. xii-268).
Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Bury, M. (2013). Health and illness in a changing society. Routledge.
Bury, M., & Gabe, J. (2013). The sociology of health and illness: a reader. Routledge.
Cohn, S. (2014). From health behaviours to health practices: an introduction. Sociology of health
& illness, 36(2), 157-162.
Hill, M., & Hupe, P. (2014). Implementing public policy: An introduction to the study of
operational governance. Sage.
Jancey, J., Bowser, N., Burns, S., Crawford, G., Portsmouth, L., & Smith, J. (2014). No smoking
here: examining reasons for noncompliance with a smoke-free policy in a large
university. nicotine & tobacco research, 16(7), 976-983.
Lee, J. G., Goldstein, A. O., Klein, E. G., Ranney, L. M., & Carver, A. M. (2012). Assessment of
college and university campus tobacco-free policies in North Carolina. Journal of
American College Health, 60(7), 512-519.
Lyn, R., Aytur, S., Davis, T. A., Eyler, A. A., Evenson, K. R., Chriqui, J. F., ... & Brownson, R.
C. (2013). Policy, systems, and environmental approaches for obesity prevention: a
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Meyer, H. D., & Benavot, A. (Eds.). (2013, May). PISA, power, and policy: The emergence of
global educational governance. Symposium Books Ltd.
Moore, M. D. (2019). Epilogue. In Managing diabetes, managing medicine. Manchester
University Press.
Mwisongo, A., Nabyonga-Orem, J., Yao, T., & Dovlo, D. (2016). The role of power in health
policy dialogues: lessons from African countries. BMC health services research, 16(4),
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Walls, H. L., Peeters, A., Proietto, J., & McNeil, J. J. (2011). Public health campaigns and
obesity-a critique. BMC public health, 11(1), 136.