The background for the problem, and a problem statement. Your literature review is a narrative of 7-10 scholarly sources, synthesizing what is known about the health issue you have selected from a policy perspective. Begin the literature review with a broad overview of policies that address your health issue, then narrow the discussion to the specific policy you will be analyzing. Your background should be structured so that it goes from discussing the importance of the health issue, the gap in knowledge based on the literature regarding the health issue, and how your analysis will help to fill in this gap. Provide factual information needed to understand the problem, such as incidence/prevalence or other data, population affected, and factors or circumstances contributing
to the problem. This section is informational, not analytical, so the information provided should include facts, not opinion. For a policy analysis, the definition of the problem is structured as a problem statement.
The problem statement should define the problem to be addressed in the analysis, should be succinct (one or two sentences), and should be written in the form of a question.
Part 1 will include the following components of your project in a narrative of 2,000-2,500 words:
II. Literature Review (Begin the literature review with a broad overview of policies that address your health issue, then narrow the discussion to the specific policy you will be analyzing).
III. Background for the Problem
a. Describe why the problem has been selected.
b. Describe why the issue is important and why it needs urgent attention.
IV. Problem Statement
Part 2
This section should demonstrate a good understanding of the policy. The overview of the current policy should provide details about the policy being analyzed as well as a description of the target audience for the policy. Describe the key stakeholders who have a significant interest in the problem being addressed by the policy. The key factors, or multidisciplinary impacts, are those factors that affect stakeholder viewpoints that need to be considered when
analyzing the policy problem. These factors can include:
• Epidemiological and medical factors (e.g., what is the scope of this problem and who is affected?)
• Economic factors (e.g., what is the economic impact of addressing and of not addressing this problem?)
• Political factors (e.g., are there interest groups, political groups, or individuals who oppose change and who support change for this problem?)
• Ethical factors (e.g., are there communities or groups unfairly or disproportionately affected by this problem?)
• Legal factors (e.g., are there legal restrictions or uncertainties related to this problem?)
• Practical factors (e.g., is it realistic to solve this problem at this time?)
Part 2 will include the following components in a narrative of 1,000-1,500 words:
V. Overview of Current Policy
VI. Key Stakeholders
VII. Key Factors/Multidisciplinary Impacts
a. Epidemiological and medical factors
b. Economic factors
c. Political factors
d. Ethical factors
e. Legal factors
f. Practical factors
Part 3
Description of options for policy action and a recommendation for policy action. Describe three to five options that can be considered for addressing the problem by the audience for this policy analysis. Include a description of the positive and negative aspects or pros and cons for each option. Describe the criteria you are using to analyze the pros and cons/positives and negatives for each action. For example, criteria can include cost, feasibility or ease of implementation, legality, fairness, timeliness, or targeted impact to the audience affected by the problem. For your recommendation, you should choose one of the options you described. Describe why this option is preferred over the other options, despite the cons or negative aspects of the policy action.
Part 3 will include the following components in a narrative of 750-1,000 words:
VIII. Options for Policy Action
a. Three to five options
b. Positive and negative aspects or pros and cons of each action
c. Criteria for analyzing pros and cons for each option
IX. Recommendation
d. Description of one of the options for policy action as the recommended action
e. Description of why this option is preferred over the other options
The final capstone project should be a narrative of 4,000-6,500 words and include all required sections in the following order:
Title page
I. Executive Summary
II. Literature Review
III. Background for the Problem
a. Describe why the problem has been selected
b. Describe why the issue is important and why it needs urgent attention
IV. Problem Statement
V. Overview of Current Policy
VI. Key Stakeholders
VII. Key Factors/Multidisciplinary Impacts
a. Epidemiological and medical factors
b. Economic factors
c. Political factors
d. Ethical factors
e. Legal factors
f. Practical factors
VIII. Options for Policy Action
a. Three to five options
b. Positive and negative aspects or pros and cons of each action
c. Criteria for analyzing pros and cons for each option
IX. Recommendation
a. Description of one of the options for policy action as the recommended action
b. Description of why this option is preferred over the other options
X. Conclusion and Dissemination of Knowledge
XI. References
