Guidelines for Preparing a Brief Health Policy Analysis
What is the purpose of a policy analysis?
A policy analysis provides informed advice relating to a policy decision to a specific stakeholder. The purpose is to provide a recommended course of action, within the context of the stakeholder’s values and realm of influence. Stakeholders for a policy analysis are those with a specific interest in the issue being analyzed, and can include government officials, organization leaders, legislators, advocacy leaders, etc.
How should a policy analysis be structured?
There are various ways in which a policy analysis can be structured, but five steps are essential to a policy analysis. Each section should be clearly identified in your written policy analysis. Each of the following will be addressed further below:
1. Problem statement – Definition of the problem to be addressed in the analysis
2. Background – Factual information for understanding the problem
3. Landscape of the problem – Description of key stakeholders and their concerns/interests
4. Options – Description of the options available to address the problem
5. Recommendation – One recommended course of action
How does one write an effective problem statement?
A problem statement should be one or two sentences in length, be written in the form of a question, and identify the focus of the problem. From your problem statement, you should then be able to identify several options for solving the problem and further discuss in the options section.
What should be included in the background?
The background should include factual information needed to understand the problem, including epidemiological data, impact and scope of the problem, who is affected, etc. This section is informational, not analytical, so the information provided should include facts, not opinion.
What issues should the landscape address?
The landscape of the problem consists of two sub-sections—key stakeholders and key factors. The key stakeholders related to the problem should not be an exhaustive list of all stakeholders, but rather a list of the stakeholders that must be included in the analysis, and for whom the options presented in the analysis are relevant. The key factors to be included in this section are political factors (e.g., policymakers with opposing views), economic factors (e.g., costs of implementation, economic impact of not addressing problem), practical factors (e.g., feasibility of implementation), and legal factors (e.g., legal barriers to implementation). This section can be organized by stakeholder or by factor.
What is included in the options section?
Before writing this section, it would be helpful to identify the various options available to address the problem, then select the best three to five options to include in the analysis. Each option should be distinct from the others and each should address the problem identified in your problem statement. Include the pros and cons of each option. Sources to find already-considered options can include scholarly sources, media articles, interest group recommendations, legislation (proposed or passed), government organizations, etc. The three to five options you include in your analysis should be based on the specific stakeholders for whom the policy analysis is targeted as well as align with their realm of influence. For example, it would not be appropriate to recommend a state law for a policy analysis targeting a member of congress (state legislators pass state laws; congress passes federal laws).
How do I write an effective recommendation?
Your policy analysis should include only one recommendation for action, and should be one of the options presented in the previous section. In the beginning of this section, clearly identify which recommendation you selected. Explain why this recommendation is the best option of the others described, despite the cons/drawbacks described. In addition, describe what efforts can be taken to minimize any drawbacks or negative aspects of implementing your recommendation.
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