: Economics in Public Health: Case Study Analysis

One thousand one hundred children each day [are] infected with HIV. Where do they come from? Less than one comes from the United States; one, on average, comes from Europe; 100 come from Asia and the Pacific; and each day, a thousand babies with HIV in Africa.

—Mitchell Besser, doctor and advocate for the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS (2010)

Many interventions that begin in the United States eventually cross borders in the hope of positively impacting health outcomes in other countries. For example, some interventions related to HIV/AIDS have been so effective in the United States that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health agencies have decided to extend these practices to developing nations still struggling with high infection and mortality rates.

The United States, alongside other developed nations, uses budgetary resources to advocate for countries that do not have the economic resources to advocate for themselves. Since 1986, U.S. presidents have devoted budgetary funds toward the global eradication of the HIV virus (Besser, 2010). President Obama’s 2014 federal budget earmarked 6.5 billion dollars toward global HIV/AIDS activities. Funding has been used to create global prevention programs, increase access to medicine, and provide pre- and postnatal services and education.

This week, you continue your investigation of the role of economics in public health. In your Assignment, you conduct a case study analysis. In your Scholar-Practitioner Project, you create a research policy brief to persuade an audience of your choosing to take action in regard to your public health issue.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Apply the discipline of economics to public health policy
• Analyze public health issues
• Analyze public health interventions
• Analyze the impact of multiple disciplines on public health issues
• Develop public health research policy briefs

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Bhattacharya, D. (2013).
Public health policy: Issues, theories, and advocacy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Chapter 19, “The Research Policy Brief: A Primer” (pp. 429–465)

Review the following case study options and select
one to further investigate:

• Chapter 9, “SCHIP and Children with Special Health Care Needs” (pp. 245–263)
• Chapter 16, “Medical Readmissions and the Affordable Care Act” (pp. 365–387)

Tudor Edwards, R., Charles, J. M., & Lloyd-Williams, H. (2013). Public health economics: A systematic review of guidance for the economic evaluation of public health interventions and discussion of key methodological issues.
BMC Public Health, 13(1)
, 1–26.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Document: Template for Research Policy Brief Paper (Word document)

Use this document when writing your Research Policy Brief due in
Week 9.

Assignment: Case Study Analysis

Cost-effectiveness analyses, when combined with epidemiological research, can assist public health professionals in identifying the highest health priorities. As you have explored, these comprehensive analyses also assist in highlighting the economical and epidemiological impacts of current and potential public health interventions.

Consider for example, cost-effectiveness findings on vaccinations. In 2006, the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 62 million doses of mandated vaccines cost the U.S. government approximately $1.7 billion. Although this seems expensive at the outset, the CDC also found these vaccinations to result in an annual cost savings of $10 billion in direct medical costs and more than $40 billion in indirect costs. Most importantly, the vaccines prevented more than 14 million cases of disease and more than 33,500 deaths (Department of Health and Human Services, 2007). Given the long-term savings and lives saved, it is easy to understand why money is allocated each year toward the vaccination of children.

In this Assignment, you continue to investigate the impact of economics on public health issues. Specifically, you conduct a case study analysis from the discipline of economics to examine the direct and indirect costs and health outcomes related to

• State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and children with special health care needs

To prepare for this case study analysis, review the case studies presented in this week’s Learning Resources and select one to further investigate for your case study analysis. Then, conduct research to locate at least three scholarly, peer-reviewed resources from the Walden Library that will further support your case study analysis.

By Day 7

Of this week, submit a 2-page case study analysis that synthesizes the following:

• Title page and Table of Contents
• Write the problem statement for the public health issue identified in the case study.
• In one paragraph, provide background to the public health issue identified in the case study.
• In one paragraph, overview current governmental policy associated with this public health issue.
• From the perspective of the economics discipline, explain the following:
  • The direct and indirect costs that impact this public health issue or a specific intervention for this issue.
  • A study analysis (cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit) that indicates improvements in health outcomes and in economic value.
• In one paragraph, describe intervention(s) currently in place to address this public health issue.
• In one paragraph, propose an alternative intervention to address this public health issue.
• In one paragraph, conclude your analysis by summarizing the key points and takeaways.
• APA reference page.

Be sure to reference at least three current scholarly articles througho

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