Exercises - PH 431: What Is Public Health Policy, Advocacy & Law?

In addition to a variety of learning activities, there are 3 instructor-evaluated activities associated with PH 431: (1) complete the individual exercise; (2) participate in a multi-learner conferencing exercise; and (3) complete and submit the assessment quiz. Each of these is explained below.

Learning Activities (Note: these ARE NOT to be submitted!)

A series of individual learning exercises for this module are provided below. Completing these exercises will familiarize you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that relate to the competency expectation for this module that is described above. Note that learners are not required to submit written response for these learning exercises. Completing these exercises, however, will prepare you for components of this module that are assessed and scored.

  1. Review the basic content for PH 431, which is provided in the Introduction, Legal Basis of Public Health: Module 1 by Neuberger and Christtoffel, 1999 (PDF format). For PH 431 learners are to complete Module 1 (Legal Basis of Public Health) in its entirety by reading the material and developing responses to the various individual and group exercises (these don't need to be written and submitted; however, completing them will facilitate responses to the exercises listed below).
  2. Carefully review the first section of the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post [or another major newspaper] and highlight the word "policy" every time it appears. Is this term used consistently and does it mean the same thing each time it is used? For each instance that the term "policy" is used, briefly describe what the article is about and explain what the term "policy" means within that context.
  3. Review the chronology of public health events on the Illinois Department of Public Health Timeline before responding to the following questions:
  4. Virtually all state governments have Internet websites where one may find, among other items: Find your state's websites and locate the above resources. If your state is one of the few that has not yet posted this information, provide the web sites for a neighboring state or the federal government.
  5. Where can you find your state's Administrative Procedure Act? What procedures are required for state agencies to promulgate rules? What procedures are required for adjudicating disputes. Where can you find the procedural requirements for the state health agency? What could happen if the state agency violated its own procedural rules?
  6. Identify a public health bill of particular interest to you. This may be pending at the state or federal level. Identify where the bill is in the legislative process. Trace the path of this legislation as it progressed through the legislative process and describe all subsequent steps that are needed for it to become law.
  7. Review the language of a public health statute and regulation for an important public health issue or program. Comment on any differences in the level of detail found in the statute as opposed to the regulations. Discuss the pros and cons of the legislature writing more detail in this particular statute.
  8. What is the legal relationship between your state health department and the local health units in your state? Does your state provide for home rule? Does your state or local health department share authority with a board of health? If so, how is responsibility and authority divided between the two entities?

Evaluated Activities (Note: these ARE to be submitted!)

(1) Individual Exercise

Each learner will submit a brief response to the following exercise. Produce your response on a separate document to be uploaded at the "Submit Assignments" link. Please use "PH 431 Individual Exercise" as the title of your submission.

Review the chronology of events related to tobacco use in the U.S. before responding to the following questions:

(2) Conferencing Exercise

Add your contributions to this multi-learner conferencing exercise. Produce your response on a separate document to be uploaded at the "Submit Assignments" link. Please use "PH 431 Conferencing Exercises" as the title of your submission.

You are part of a team that is developing a proposal for a "public Health impact statement" that would be required for every new public policy in your state. This "public health impact statement" would be somewhat similar to 'fiscal impact notes," "environmental impact statements," and "small business impact statements" that re currently required at various levels of government during the process of considering new legislation, rules and regulations, and other forms of public policy. You are not sure what this "public health impact statement" should focus on, but you would like for it to be based on current thinking as to the determinants of health. After reviewing one representation of the health determinants model, briefly describe the broad criteria that you would propose for this "public health impact statement." Then apply your criteria to a policy that directly affects health (such as Medicaid eligibility or a new immunization requirement) and to a second policy that indirectly affects health (such as land use or mass transportation). Review the proposals provided by other learners as you develop your own.

(3) Assessment Quiz

Follow the LearningSpace link to the Assessment Quiz. You may be asked for your login ID and password to access the quiz through your Preparedness Center Personal Page. Complete the quiz and submit your responses. You make take the quiz several times.

Course Evaluation: All learners are asked to electronically complete a Course Evaluation Questionnaire; this is available to you as an electronic form and will be transmitted to a data base without your identity being known, and your instructor will have no way to link your identity to your comments. Before participating in these course evaluation activities, students should review the specific learning objectives established for this course (and others you may have taken as part of this series); these are available in the Syllabus. Evaluation of the course should focus on the extent to which these objectives were achieved.

PH 431 Exercises last revised June 30, 2005 (dkapadia)