Question 1
What do you recommend as the basis for the new health strategy in Tekram. Discuss the reasons for your recommendation and the policy evidence from the literature that supports these recommendations.
Answer
The situation in which the citizens of Tekram have found themselves is truly dire. Without the support of investors and a viable insurance framework, the residents are doomed to drastic health complications with no opportunities for receiving proper care. However, by introducing certain changes to the current financial approach toward managing the population’s health concerns, one will be able to reduce the risks and improve the healthcare system (Paterson, 2014). Connecting the social goals to the financial objectives is the first critical step toward improving the situation so that the current health objectives could align with the needs of the Tekram population and meet their rights.
Furthermore, targeting not individual citizens but households as the focus of financial models for health management seems a legitimate step for Tekram authorities at present. Thus, the costs for addressing public health issues will be reduced, whereas the opportunities for embracing the needs of diverse groups (Paterson, 2014). The proposed solution will allow targeting a vast number of people, at the same time maintaining the levels of expenses low.
Question 2
State at least one goal and two objectives that are critical to your strategy. Your goal should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely).
Answer
The health crisis that can be currently observed in Tekram has a rather nuanced nature. On the one hand, the lack of financial resources is an evident source of concern that has to be handled immediately. On the other hand, the lack of educated experts and the low rates of health awareness within the community also leave a tangible influence on the progress of the current situation. Therefore, increasing the current levels of public health awareness within the next two months by at least 30% should be regarded as a key first SMART goal to be attained. The specified goal will require meeting several essential SMART objectives provided below.
- SMART Objective 1. Within the next six months, a strategy for educating nurses and recruiting new health experts into the Tekram healthcare setting will be designed to raise the nurse-patient ratio by 20%.
- SMART Objective 2. Within the next week, the goals for the state healthcare system aimed at meeting the needs of the population and promoting health awareness will be set to manage the current health concerns.
- SMART Objective 3. Within the next 6 weeks, external sources of funding will be located by attracting investors and improving the current healthcare system to improve the quality of nursing care and reducing the instances of negative outcomes among vulnerable groups by 75%.
- SMART Objective 4. Within the next three months, a program for reaching out to disadvantaged communities for managing the issues associated with stroke, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, tuberculosis, and motor vehicle accidents will be created.
Question 3
Make at least one recommendation on how to build support for your strategy.
Answer
Supporting the proposed strategy is likely to be quite complicated due to the lack of resources within the state. At present, Tekram suffers from a financial crisis caused by the recent changes within the state’s political system. Therefore, to address health-related concerns, one will need to integrate socioeconomic and political factors into the analysis of the current situation and the management thereof.
Specifically, it is necessary to attract the attention of four key stakeholders, which include “government, private agents who act for the consumer, healthcare providers, and consumers, who are organized into households” (Paterson, 2014, p. 13). Besides, it would be reasonable to use tourism and expand agriculture activities to advance the state economy and create additional options for healthcare funding. The resulting rise in patient education, financial opportunities for healthcare organizations, and insurance options will affect the efficacy of healthcare extensively.
Question 4
Discuss at least three methods that the ministry should use to implement your support-building recommendation.
Answer
To institutionalize change within the Tekram community, one will require the support of state authorities. Thus, the first method concerns convincing the ministry to participate actively in the creation of the proposed healthcare framework and the search for investors, as well as the integration of economy-related approaches into the modern healthcare system. The fact that Tekram’s political participation rates are at 48%, which is rather low, may serve as the impediment toward creating a sustainable framework for addressing people’s health needs. Specifically, certain groups may be underrepresented, and specific health issues may fail to be recognized.
The focus on providing nurses and healthcare experts with the needed education to manage current health problems within the community can become the second method for encouraging change in healthcare. As the third approach, it is necessary to introduce a household as a key stakeholder in the healthcare process, which will become possible once the state government reshapes the existing healthcare system and modifies the taxation framework (Paterson, 2014). Specifically, households should be seen as another source of revenue for the government to fund healthcare organizations along with the focus on attracting investors.
Question 5
Suggest one alternative to the present social insurance scheme, and provide a rationale for the feasibility of this alternative.
Answer
The current social insurance scheme adopted in Tekram leaves much to be desired since there is a lack of connection between the economic realities of the state and the health-related needs of patients. Therefore, changing the existing social insurance scheme should be deemed as the first step toward a larger improvement. It is suggested that the National Health Service, particularly, mandatory private insurance, should be selected as a possible alternative to the current approach (Paterson, 2014). The reasoning behind the choice concerns mostly the fact that the fund-pooling technique will open opportunities for curbing the health risks (Paterson, 2014).
Specifically, support for the healthcare system will be obtained from private investors without creating a challenging economic situation due to increased taxation. Moreover, the proposed tool will help to reinforce the idea of viewing households as the primary unit of the improved healthcare model. As a result, the local healthcare authorities will be able to handle the current health concerns.
Reference
Paterson, M. (2014). Healthcare finance and financial management. Lancaster, PA: DEStech Publications.