Analysis Of Position Papers For Vulnerable Populations

Analysis Of Position Papers For Vulnerable Populations

Develop a 4–6-page position about a specific health care issue as it relates to a target vulnerable population. Include an analysis of existing evidence and position papers to help support your position. Your analysis should also present and respond to one or more opposing viewpoints.

Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

Position papers are a method to evaluate the most current evidence and policies related to health care issues. They offer a way for researchers to explore the views of any number of organizations around a topic. This can help you to develop your own position and approach to care around a topic or issue.

This assessment will focus on analyzing position papers about an issue related to addiction, chronicity, emotional and mental health, genetics and genomics, or immunity. Many of these topics are quickly evolving as technology advances, or as we attempt to push past stigmas. For example, technology advances and DNA sequencing provide comprehensive information to allow treatment to become more targeted and effective for the individual. However as a result, nurses must be able to understand and teach patients about the impact of this information. With this great power comes concerns that patient conditions are protected in an ethical and compassionate manner.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Design evidence-based advanced nursing care for achieving high-quality population outcomes.
  • Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
  • Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
• Competency 2: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of interprofessional interventions in achieving desired population health outcomes.
  • Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
• Competency 3: Analyze population health outcomes in terms of their implications for health policy advocacy.
  • Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
• Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
  • Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
  • Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.

Position papers are a way for individuals, groups, and organizations to express their views and intentions toward a specific issue. In health care, many position papers address specific policies, regulations, or other approaches to care. As a master’s-prepared nurse, you should feel empowered to express and advocate for your own views on policy and care matters. This is especially important when it comes to populations you or your organization cares for that are not receiving the quality, type, or amount of care that they require.

An important skill in creating a position paper or policy proposal is the ability to analyze and synthesize others’ views about the population or issue of interest to you. By synthesizing the positive and negative views of an issue, you can become better equipped to strengthen your own arguments and to respond to opposing views in an informed and convincing way.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.

SHOW LESS

Assessment 1 will be based on an analysis of position papers that are relevant to a health care issue related to a vulnerable population. Think about your experience working with vulnerable populations, and the issues related to health care you have observed for those populations, or reflect on the two Vila Health simulations in the Resources.

• What is the vulnerable population that most interests you?
  • What is the health issue that is most prevalent or severe in the population?
  • How does the health issue impact the daily lives of members of the population?
  • How does the care environment in your chosen context impact both the population and the level of care related to the health issue?
  • What are the biggest challenges that you would need to overcome to improve the outcomes for the population related to the health issue?
• What is your position on how to best work to improve the care and outcomes that the population is receiving?
  • What previously published position papers support your position, or the need to work to improve care and outcomes in general for the population?
    • How do these position papers support your assertions?
    • How could one or more of the position papers help you to form a treatment plan?
  • What previously published position papers contradict your position?
    • What, if any, of these differences would make your position stronger if you incorporated them?
    • How could you respond to any irreconcilable differences in such a way as to encourage buy-in for your position from those opposed?

Assessment Instructions

Scenario

Pretend you are a member of an interprofessional team that is attempting to improve the quality of health care and the outcomes in a vulnerable population. For the first step in your team’s work, you have decided to conduct an analysis of current position papers that address the issue and population you are considering.

In your analysis you will note the team’s initial views on the issue in the population as well as the views across a variety of relevant position papers. You have been tasked with finding the most current standard of care or evidenced-based practice and evaluating both the pros and cons of the issue. For the opposing viewpoints, it is important to discuss how the team could respond to encourage support. This paper will be presented to a committee of relevant stakeholders from your care setting and the community. If it receives enough support, you will be asked to create a new policy that could be enacted to improve the outcomes related to your chosen issue and target population.

The care setting, population, and health care issue that you use for this assessment will be used in the other assessments in this course. Consider your choice carefully. There are two main approaches for you to take in selecting the scenario for this assessment:

1. You may use one of the issues and populations presented in the Vila Health: Health Challenges in Different Populations and Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research media pieces. For this approach, you may consider the population in the context of the Vila Health care setting, or translate it into the context in which you currently practice or have had recent experience.
2. You may select a population and issue that is of interest to you and set them in the context of your current or desired future care setting. While you are free to choose any population of interest, the issue you choose should fall within one of the following broad categories:
   • Genetics and genomics.
     • Sickle cell, asthma, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis.
   • Immunity.
     • Type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), congenital neutropenia syndrome.
   • Chronicity.
     • Arthritis, any type of cancer or lung or heart disease, obesity.
   • Addiction.
     • Abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, tobacco, illegal substances.
   • Emotion and mental health.
     • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, eating disorders, psychosis.

Note: If you choose the second option, contact the FlexPath faculty for your section to make sure that your chosen issue and population will fit within the topic areas for this course.

Instructions

For this assessment you will develop a position summary and an analysis of relevant position papers on a health care issue in a chosen population. The bullet points below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your submission addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations Scoring Guide and Guiding Questions: Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations to better understand how each grading criterion will be assessed.

• Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
• Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
• Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
• Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.
• Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.

Example Assessment: You may use the assessment example, linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Additional Requirements

• Length of submission: 4–6 double-spaced, typed pages, not including the title and reference pages. Your plan should be succinct yet substantive. No abstract is required.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your initial position on the issue, as well as a minimum of 2–3 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that express contrary views or opinions. Resources should be no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: Use the APA Style Paper Template linked in the Resources. An APA Style Paper Tutorial is also provided to help you in writing and formatting your analysis.

GRADING RUBRIC:

1- Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.

Passing Grade:  Explains a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific issue in a target population, and identifies assumptions on which the plan is based.

2-  Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population.

Passing Grade:  Explains the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements for a specific issue in a target population. Acknowledges challenges that the team may face in working together or in facilitating improvements.

3-  Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.

Passing Grade:  Evaluates the evidence and positions of others that could support a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population. Identifies knowledge gaps, unknowns, missing information, unanswered questions, or areas of uncertainty (where further information could improve the evaluation).

4-  Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach for improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population.

Passing Grade:  Evaluates the evidence and positions of others that are contrary to a team’s approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care for a specific issue in a target population. Impartially responds to conflicting data and other perspectives in a way that creates buy-in.

5-  Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Passing Grade:  Communicates an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a target population and synthesis of existing positions in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Identifies specific strategies or approaches used to ensure clear communication.
6-  Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.

Passing Grade:  Integrates relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style. Citations are free from all errors.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF PAPER POSITION

ANALYSIS OF PAPER POSITION

Analysis of Paper Position

Capella University

Alexander Ruche

March, 2021

The elderly is the most affected population in this country. People are expecting to live a longer life. Living for a longer life comes with opportunities not only to the families and society but to the older people. Staying for additional years is a chance to pursue activities with good opportunities including the advancement of technology. (Wanget al 2020). However, aging is associated with cellular and molecular damage leading to a decrease in capacity on physical and mental states. Therefore, the health risk vulnerability is high at this stage and conditions of health associated with aging are diabetes, osteopathy, depression, arthritis, and different type of cancer. The elderly tends to experience some health complex states and neither do they fall to any category of discrete state. These are delirium, falls, incontinence of urinary and associative ulcers. Comment by Dr. Loftus: Are – not is Comment by Dr. Loftus: Incorrect – (Wang, et al., 2020) – spaciing and punctuation! Comment by Dr. Loftus: Need citation for the source of this information. Comment by Dr. Loftus: Again, what is the source of this information?

Various factors are resulting in elderly diseases, some are related to genetics, some areas the results of the social and physical environment. Maintaining health behaviors has a great impact on the environment. Eating a balanced diet could be a result of some diseases because an inadequate intake of nutrients required by the body will lower immunity. A supportive environment is also good when it comes to maintaining. Globalization and development in technology could be affecting the elderly in one way or another. Comment by Dr. Loftus: All good information but what is the specific health issue for this population? You mentioned many issues but I would recommend focusing on just one and developing a specific position on what is needed to improve outcomes.

The interprofessional team in facilitating improvements

The interprofessional team is looking forward to providing efficient, quality, and improved care for elderly health. In this category, the health of the family is ideally designed to provide care to the elderly. (Martinet al 2018). Primary practitioners provide the necessary care to this population however there are challenges associated with this including insufficient facilities for the cancer patients. Due to the rising number of older people with difficulties in hospitals, the interdisciplinary approach is necessary to address their social and psychological issues. elderly require close attention, so the collaboration of family and the healthcare team is needed. The World Health Organization proposed integrated health care for the elderly. This includes an introduction, provision management, and organizing of health services like treating, diagnosing promotion of health, and even rehabilitation. Comment by Dr. Loftus: Yes – this is what is currently happening. The purpose of this paper is to identify a specific health issue experienced by a vulnerable population and to develop a position that will improve outcomes. Comment by Dr. Loftus: Alexander, the difficulty here is that you have not identified a specific health issue or a specific position on what is needed to improve outcomes. The discussion on the role of the interprofessional team should focus on facilitating outcomes for the specific health issue, in line with your position.

Corporations of the medical administration and the professional’s affiliates will work towards the success of medical services. The research has shown a health improvement on the elderly when the interprofessional team is involved. However, the elderly might not be willing to participate in health engagement because of the increased rate of dementia as the age advances. The effectiveness of the team should be involved with competence in being social, negotiation, and problem understanding. Administering services in healthcare need frequent attendant and paying attention to the prescription given by the physicians. The interprofessional are needed to follow up with the elderly caregivers so that medication given is strictly followed and frequents checkups are done appropriately. Always the elderly is associated with many diseases and therefore, a thorough diagnosis should be established for them. Comment by Dr. Loftus: This does not relate to a specific health issue or your position on what will improve outcomes, nor is there any evidence-based information to support.

Evaluating evidence of others that could support team approach

According to today’s system in health facilities, service delivery involves many processes from different health practitioners which varies basing on different education levels and training on the occupation. Team collaboration is becoming essential because elderly patients have to interact with different nurses and physicians. To safe on critical conditions of patients and to mitigate health risk to the elderly, professionals in health care need teamwork and communications. This is a way of avoiding medical error the vulnerable elderly people. According to the Institute of Medical, to err is to Human: Building a safer health system, suggested that are 48% of the deaths are caused by medical error including diseases such as diabetes, breast cancer, and Alzheimer’s diseases. Comment by Dr. Loftus: This is a bit awkwardly written. Comment by Dr. Loftus: Need proper citation. This should all support your position on what will improve outcomes.

Team collaborations enable the exchange of ideas, thoughts, and opinions which can save one’s life. In health care, it involves sharing of ensures cooperation’s, responsibility sharing and complementary role when caring a healthy elderly. Interprofessional between the physicians and nurses increases the knowledge improvement and continued support towards the welfare of the elderly. The support provided by the interprofessional team enables the elderly to accept and adopt the plans on illness treatment. This is where psychological support is given to the family members and the elderly. Improved patience outcomes have been seen in various field of health care where the trained professional engage in collaborative activities Comment by Dr. Loftus: This is very generalized information and not supported with evidence.

Common age-related challenges which are not categorically described as diseases need to be handled with care. Here interprofessional teamwork is safe and quality care to the patient who is chronic to some diseases. This interpersonal team can be achieved if the health care doctors, nurses, and health officers are trained about the importance of working together. It involves all the caregiver team engaging together and share information about a problem. The techniques have the possibility of giving improved patient care and outcomes. (Lewin et al 2018).For example, a patient who works in a medical facility and complains of chest pain is checked by a doctor who suspects it is a heart attack, the patient can there proceed to a cardiologist who confirms the problem. If it was not for interprofessional teamwork the life of the patients could have been lost by just assuming some pain-relieving medication. Medication can be started immediately if the patient’s case is emergency. By improving on error occurrence it facilitates the reduction of healthcare costs. When dealing with the elderly already the interprofessional team is aware of the diseases relating to the advanced age, the medication can be administering faster after a shorter period of the diagnostic process. Comment by Dr. Loftus: This is a bit awkwardly constructed sentence and not supported by evidence. Comment by Dr. Loftus: Alexander, your writing mechanics needs some work. Please take advantage of the resources available through Capella and enlist the assistance of your Tutor to improve.

Evaluating evidence and position of others that are contrary to the team approach

The contrary approach to dealing with elderly health care is the use of the multidisciplinary technique. This is where each person focuses on his/her discipline on the healthcare plan. this category-specific assessment is done by the individual rather than the joint assessment used in the interprofessional team. (Taylor et al 2018). According to the research, it states that the process is done hierarchically, every member is doing work on the same problem at a different. The technique has limitations toward disciplinary roles and communication among the healthcare specialist. Physicians, nurses, and other specialists are limited with the knowledge of the role. Giving an example of the elderly fighting with diabetes, the disease might be associated with pressure ulcers but the doctor treating diabetes may not concentrate much on the other illness unlike the interprofessional where the diseases could have been handled at the same time. Comment by Dr. Loftus: I do see your point here but this does not relate to a position on a different approach to improving outcomes for a specific health issue. Comment by Dr. Loftus: What research? You need to be specific about your sources of information.

Using the interprofessional way, the team is working on the same problem and even the elderly caregivers are involved. Effective communication between the team is continuous and that is the reason why the outcome of a treatment solution is quality. In the other disciplinary, occurrence of treatment error is common which can lead to loss of life, and administering of treatment takes time. Currently, Interprofessional Professional Education Collaboration (IPEC) is providing education on Interprofessionalism. This is preparing future health professionals for teamwork-based on care to the patients that will improve the health outcomes of the population. The World Health Organization is advising the same to health facilities when considering an acquisition of health professionals. It encourages the building of relationships among the team to enhance performances and improve the healthy life of the elderly.

References

Lewin, S., Booth, A., Glenton, C., Munthe-Kaas, H., Rashidian, A., Wainwright, M., … & Noyes, J. (2018). Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings: introduction to the series

Martin, A., & Manley, K. (2018). Developing standards for an integrated approach to workplace facilitation for interprofessional teams in health and social care contexts: a Delphi study. Journal of interprofessional care, 32(1), 41-51.

.Taylor, C., Munro, A. J., Glynne-Jones, R., Griffith, C., Trevatt, P., Richards, M., & Ramirez, A. J. (2010). Multidisciplinary team working in cancer: what is the evidence?. Bmj, 340.

Wang, L., He, W., Yu, X., Hu, D., Bao, M., Liu, H., … & Jiang, H. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 in elderly patients: characteristics and prognostic factors based on 4-week follow-up. Journal of Infection, 80(6), 639-645