Policy Development

 For this Performance Task Assessment, you will write a letter to a state or national legislator, proposing a healthcare policy that addresses a health issue currently impacting your state. 

 

Advocating for Healthcare Policy

You are a health program director for your state health department. In your work, you have become aware of the many areas where reform is still needed in order to fulfill the healthcare goals of the future. In order to better serve your community, you have decided to write a letter to a legislator to propose a healthcare policy that will address one of the pressing health issues facing your state. Your letter will be a persuasive, fact-based call to action that will encourage positive social change.

Click each of the items below to complete this assessment.

Instructions

Choose a health issue that is currently impacting your state and that you link to what you predict to be future trends in healthcare. Research the breadth and depth of the health issue and, then, compose your letter according to the following guidelines: Address your letter to a legislator at the state or national level, depending upon the state-wide or national relevance of the health issue.

• Note: If your health issue is a national-level concern, you may choose a member of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate from any state who would be likely to support your policy. If your health issue is a state-level concern, you should choose a member of your state’s House of Representatives or Senate.
• The following website can help you find the appropriate legislator:

  USA.gov. (2019). How to contact your elected officials. Retrieved from https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

• This sample letter can be used as a guide:

  North Los Angeles Country Regional Center. (n.d.). Sample letter that you can use to write to your legislator. Retrieved July 30, 2019, from https://www.nlacrc.org/home/showdocument?id=272

Paragraph 1:

• Introduce yourself and describe your experience and knowledge of the health issue.
• Introduce your purpose for writing by briefly stating the health issue.
• Identify the effect of the health issues on your state.
• Advocate for the policy proposed to solve the health issue.

Paragraph 2:

• Describe the health issue and its impact on your state population using quantitative and/or qualitative data to support your claims, where possible.

Paragraph 3:

• Elaborate on the policy that you would propose.
• Include the actionable steps that it would take to resolve the health issue.
• Propose a method for implementing the policy.
• Project the possible effects of the policy (e.g., lower incidence of disease, higher life expectancy for a population, etc.), estimating realistic quantitative or qualitative impacts, where possible.

Paragraph 4:

• Identify stakeholders from your state—such as insurance companies, medical professional associations, etc.—that would potentially support the policy and describe what kind of assistance they might provide.

Paragraph 5:

• Describe to the legislator the advantages and/or disadvantages if he or she chooses to support the policy, indicating how constituents might respond.
• Restate the impact that this policy will have on the future of healthcare.
• Thank the legislator for his or her time and consideration of your issue and conclude your letter.

Use at least three credible sources and cite them using APA format.

©2019 Walden University

1

CI3005: Policy Development – Propose healthcare policy initiatives.

Assessment Rubric

Rubric Criteria
0

Not Present

1

Needs Improvement

2

Meets Expectations

Module 1: Current Trends in Healthcare

Develop a professional, 1- to 2-
page letter to a legislator.

LO1.1: Develop a professional
letter.

Response is not present. Response includes a letter that
is unprofessional, improperly
formatted, or failing to meet the
1- to 2-page requirement.

Response includes a
professional letter that uses
proper formatting and meets
the 1- to 2-page requirement.

Choose a health issue that is
currently impacting your state and
that you link to what you predict
to be future trends in healthcare.

LO1.2: Identify health issues that
impact specific states and may
relate to future trends.

Response is not present. Response selects an
inappropriate health issue or
selects a health issue that does
not impact their state or is not
related to anticipated future
trends in healthcare.

Response selects an appropriate
health issue that impacts their
state and is related to
anticipated future trends in
healthcare.

Address your letter to a legislator
at the state or national level,
depending upon the statewide or
national relevance of the health
issue.

Response is not present. Response does not address the
letter to a legislator whose state
or national level is appropriate
for the statewide or national
relevance of the health issue.

Response addresses the letter to
a legislator whose state or
national level is appropriate for
the statewide or national
relevance of the health issue.

©2019 Walden University 2

LO1.3: Evaluate whether a health
issue will be best addressed by
state- or national-level policy.

Introduce yourself as the health
program director with the
experience described in the
scenario.

LO1.3: Summarize professional
qualifications in a formal
environment.

Response is not present.

Response does not clearly
summarize the qualifications of
the state health program
director identified in the
scenario.

Response clearly summarizes
the qualifications of the state
health program director
identified in the scenario.

Introduce your purpose for writing
by briefly stating the health issue.

LO1.4: Identify health issues that
can be addressed by health policy.

Response is not present.

Response is unclear or not
succinct in identifying the health
issue that motivates the policy
proposal.

Response clearly and succinctly
identifies the health issue that
motivates the policy proposal.

State the effect of the health issue
on your state.

LO1.5: Identify the effects of health
issues on specific communities.

Response is not present. Response is unclear or not
succinct in identifying the effect
of the health issue on the
student’s state.

Response clearly and succinctly
identifies the effect of the
health issue on the student’s
state.

©2019 Walden University 3

State the policy proposed to solve
the health issue.

LO1.6: Identify policy proposals to
solve health issues.

Response is not present. Response unclearly or not
succinctly identifies the policy
proposed to solve the health
issue.

Response clearly and succinctly
identifies the policy proposed to
solve the health issue.

Describe the health issue and its
impact on your state population,
using quantitative and/or
qualitative data to support your
claims, where possible.

LO1.7: Analyze the impact of health
issues at a state level, incorporating
quantitative and/or qualitative
evidence.

Response is not present.

Response provides an analysis of
the impact of the health issue
that is unclear or not concise or
does not use quantitative or
qualitative evidence in a
compelling manner.

Response provides a clear and
concise analysis of the impact of
the health issue, using
quantitative or qualitative
evidence in a compelling
manner.

Module 2: The Future of Healthcare Policy

Elaborate on the policy that you
would propose.

LO2.1: Propose healthcare policy to
address health issues.

Response is not present. Response proposes a policy that
is inappropriate to the health
issue.

Response proposes a policy that
is appropriate to the health
issue.

©2019 Walden University 4

Include the actionable steps that it
would take to resolve the health
issue.

LO2.2: Propose actionable steps
aimed at addressing health issues.

Response is not present. Response includes unclear or
not well-reasoned, actionable
steps for the policy that would
resolve the health issue.

Response includes clear and
well-reasoned, actionable steps
for the policy that would resolve
the health issue.

Propose a method for
implementing the policy.

LO2.3: Propose methods for
implementing healthcare policy.

Response is not present.

Response provides an unclear or
unfeasible method for
implementing the policy.

Response provides a clear and
feasible method for
implementing the policy.

Project the possible effect of the
policy, estimating realistic
quantitative or qualitative impact,
where possible.

LO2.5: Project the effects of
proposed healthcare policy with
estimations of quantitative or
qualitative impact.

Response is not present.

Response provides an illogical
projection of the effects of the
healthcare policy or does not
provide a realistic estimation of
the quantitative or qualitative
impact, where possible.

Response provides a logical
projection of the effects of the
proposed healthcare policy,
providing a realistic estimation
of the quantitative or qualitative
impact, where possible.

Identify stakeholders from your
state—such as insurance
companies, medical professional
associations, etc.—that would

Response is not present.

Response unclearly or
inappropriately identifies
stakeholders from their state
that could logically be expected

Response clearly and
appropriately identifies
stakeholders from their state
that could logically be expected

©2019 Walden University 5

potentially support the policy and
describe what kind of assistance
they might provide.

LO2.7: Analyze stakeholders’
support for specific healthcare
policy.

to support the policy or
unclearly assesses what kind of
assistance they might provide.

to support the policy and clearly
assesses what kind of assistance
they might provide.

Describe the advantages to the
legislator if they choose to support
the policy, indicating how
constituents might respond.

LO2.8: Evaluate the impact of
legislation decisions on
constituents’ responses.

Response is not present.

Response provides an
inaccurate or not well-reasoned
evaluation of the advantages
and/or disadvantages to the
legislator for support of the
policy or does not include a
discussion of how constituents
might respond or how this
policy relates to healthcare
policy the legislator has
previously supported or
considered.

Response provides an accurate
and well-reasoned evaluation of
the advantages and/or
disadvantages to the legislator
for support of the policy,
including a discussion of how
constituents might respond or
how this policy relates to
healthcare policy the legislator
has previously supported or
considered.

Restate the impact that this
healthcare policy will have on the
future of healthcare. Thank the
legislator for his or her time and
consideration of your issue and
conclude your letter.

Response is not present. Response offers an
unpersuasive or unprofessional
summary of the impact of the
healthcare policy or does not
follow the conventions of formal
letter writing, thanking the
legislator, and concluding the
letter.

Response offers a persuasive
and professional summary of
the impact of the healthcare
policy and follows the
conventions of formal letter
writing, thanking the legislator,
and concluding the letter.

©2019 Walden University 6

LO2.9: Summarize the impact of
healthcare policy in a persuasive
and professional manner.

Mastery Rubric

In order to achieve mastery of this Competency, you must score a “2” on every rubric row and meet the additional expectation
indicated in the Mastery Rubric.

Mastery Rubric No Yes

Exceeds Expectations: Solving Problems

LO1: Advocate for a healthcare
policy that offers an innovative
solution that is scaled and
tailored to precisely fit a health
issue.

Responses to items do not offer policy
solutions that are creative and insightful or do
not address core, underlying causes of the
health issue or are not based on educated
predictions that can be feasibly implemented
in the current healthcare environment.

Responses to items offer creative and
insightful policy solutions that address core,
underlying causes of the health issue, based
on educated predictions that can be feasibly
implemented in the current healthcare
environment.

Professional Skills Building

The faculty Assessor will provide feedback based on the following Professional Skills: Written Communication, Information Literacy,
Interpreting Data & Quantitative Fluency, and Inquiry & Analysis. Although the feedback is here to inform the development of your
skills, it is not a barrier to achieving the Competency, unless the writing is too poor to be able to score the content of the
Assessment. Review the rubric and check your work based on the learning objectives listed. If you are concerned that your writing

©2019 Walden University 7

will not meet these expectations yet, reach out to your faculty Subject Matter Expert (SME) so he or she can work with you to
further develop this important professional skill.

It is highly recommended that you use this opportunity to practice these important skills in the context of this Competency
Assessment in order to receive feedback about your current level of proficiency.

Professional Skills Building
0

Not Present

1

Needs Improvement

2

Meets Expectations

Written Communication: Write with clarity, coherence, and purpose.

LO1: Construct complete and
correct sentences (AWE 2;
Sentence-Level Skills)

Sentences are incoherent and
impede reader’s access to ideas.

Sentences are incomplete
and/or include fragments and
run-on sentences, limiting
reader’s access to ideas.

Sentence structure effectively
conveys meaning to the reader.

LO2: Demonstrate the effective
use of grammar and mechanics.
(AWE 2; Sentence-Level Skills)

Multiple inaccuracies in
grammar and mechanics impede
reader’s access to ideas.

Some inaccuracies in grammar
and mechanics limit reader’s
access to ideas.

Use of grammar and mechanics
is straightforward and effectively
conveys meaning to reader.

LO3: Create cohesive paragraphs
with a clear central idea. (AWE
2; Paragraph-Level Skills)

Paragraphs, or lack of
paragraphs, impede reader’s
access to ideas.

Construction of main idea
and/or supporting paragraphs
limit reader’s access to ideas.

Main idea and/or supporting
paragraphs effectively convey
meaning to reader.

LO4: Use supporting material to
support a claim. (AWE 2; Use of
Evidence)

Supporting materials are not
present.

Supporting material is used
inconsistently or inappropriately.

Supporting material is used to
enhance meaning. Writing is
appropriately paraphrased and
uses direct quotes, as applicable.

©2019 Walden University 8

LO5: Demonstrate appropriate
essay-level writing skills,
providing transitions between
an introduction, body, and
conclusion. (AWE 2; Essay-Level
Skills)

Ideas are disorganized with
no/poor transitions.

Ideas are loosely organized with
unclear paragraphing and
transitions.

Ideas are organized with
cohesive transitions.

LO6: Identify sources (AWE 2;
Credit to source)

Sources are missing. Writing inconsistently identifies
or misrepresents sources.

Writing clearly identifies the
source of non-original material
and/or ideas.

Information Literacy: Apply strategies to evaluate information in order to effectively analyze issues and make decisions.

LO1: Identify and locate credible
sources.

No sources or non-credible
sources are present.

Sources are inconsistently
credible, appropriate, and
relevant to the topic and/or
assessment.

Sources are mostly credible,
appropriate, and relevant to the
topic and/or assessment.

LO2: Analyze information
sources.

Analysis is not present. Analysis superficially applies
aspects of sources that are most
relevant to the topic and/or
assessment and/or analysis is
unclear.

Analysis thoroughly and clearly
applies aspects of sources that
are most relevant to the topic
and/or assessment.

LO3: Synthesize information
from multiple, credible sources.

Synthesis is not present. Synthesis demonstrates a vague
connection between multiple
sources and/or the topic.

Synthesis demonstrates a clear
and cohesive connection
between multiple sources
and/or ideas to support a given
topic.

Interpreting Data & Quantitative Fluency: Interpret numeric information in order to analyze issues and make decisions.

©2019 Walden University 9

LO1: Identify conclusions from
numeric information presented
in narrative and/or graphic form.

No conclusions are made based
on numeric information.

Connections between
conclusions and numeric
information are vague or
inaccurate.

Conclusions identified are
appropriately connected to the
numeric information.

LO3: Use quantitative data as
evidence for a decision or
recommendation.

Quantitative evidence is not
used.

Quantitative evidence does not
support or is superfluous to the
recommendation or decision.

Argument for a decision or
recommendation incorporates
appropriate quantitative data as
evidence.

Inquiry & Analysis: Apply strategies to identify, frame, and evaluate problems.

LO1: Identify a problem or
question in a selected area of
study.

No problem or question is
presented.

The problem or question is
vague or inappropriate to the
selected field of study.

The problem or question is
clearly stated in a form
appropriate to the selected field
of study.

LO2: Use a logical organizing
principle to identify the key
parts or elements of a problem
or question in a selected field of
study.

Elements or parts of the
problem or question are not
presented.

Elements or parts of the
problem or question are
presented in a disorganized
manner.

Elements or parts of the
problem or question are
presented in an organized
manner.