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Health Policy Brief

[Author’s name]

[Institute’s name]

Health Policy Brief

Description of the Health Policy Issue

           Today, there are many chronic health concerns prevails in the country that requires necessary attention. There is a need for a detailed examination of health issues to propose better health policy measures in the end. The growing consumption opioids are an alarming concern for the country because it adversely influenced a great range of the population. In recent times, it is estimated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that over 91 citizens lost their lives due to the issue of an opioid overdose. This situation is getting adverse with each day and requires the necessary and immediate attention of legislative authorities. The role of federal and state government is essentially crucial to saving the country from the calamity of the opioid epidemic and effectively deals with this health policy concern. There is a need for appropriate assessment of facts and propose necessary policy measures. The growing opioid crisis demands suitable health policy and practical strategies to restrict inappropriate use of drugs specifically in case of young individuals. The increasing threat of opioid misuse demands government authorities to propose and apply the most accurate health policy according to the actual need of the current situation. 

           It is critical for policymakers to critically examine the impact of the opioid crisis as a health policy issue on the specific domains of access, cost, and quality. It is critical to establish how the problem of incongruous consumption of opioid can negatively influence the domains of healthcare services access, cost, and quality. Statistics of the country explicitly indicates that in 2017, there are almost 70,000 people who died due to overdose of drugs. This situation is getting lethal every day as it leads to injury-related deaths in the country (Hagemeier, 2018). The issue of opioid misuse the ultimate cause of other critical health issues that eventually increase the overall cost of health policy domain prevails in the country. The risks of the appearance of drug disorder, hepatitis, and HIV infections are increasing due to health concern of opioids. The overall quality of healthcare services at a national level is greatly damaged by the enhancing rate of opioid misuse. The issue of Opioid is characterized as an economic burden on the overall healthcare approach set for the country. This specific issue increases the economic and health risk factors for victims and their families. The growing danger of this health issue requires the development and practical application of suitable and efficient health policy. 

Summary of Intended Outcomes of Policy

           There are plenty of practical measures that can be considered to successfully address the issue of opioid hazard. Policymakers must select the most suitable and economic health policy to deal with the concern of a high range of opioid use. Policymakers need to consider this particular issue as a national emergency and take immediate measures as soon as possible. Nation’s addiction crisis can only be successfully deal by ensuring proper collaboration of different stakeholders and policymakers share huge responsibility in this regard. There is a need for adopting a comprehensive health policy to guarantee the proper consideration of opioid abuse prevention and treatment activities. Legislative authorities to authorized specific amount of federal grants and funding need to assist different healthcare services organizations around the country (Stoicea et al., 2019). Implementation of aligned approach is an essential step to identify actual areas of healthcare services that require necessary attention to eradicate actual concern of opioid rampant exist in the country. 

           The success of the health policy can only determine by measuring the actual intended results of the proposed line of action on a prior basis. Assessment of actual feasibility of the policy is a mandatory step to meet actual objectives in case of health concern of opioid epidemic. The increasing grant for prevention and treatment in case of issue of opioids misuse is one vital approach to address this specific problem. The intended outcomes of this proposed policy can be critically observed in the forms of the establishment of different opioid abuse prevention and treatment activities. This broad program also includes implications of improved prescription drug monitoring. Moreover, there is a need of offering federal funding to ensure proper training of healthcare providers. It is critical for the federal and local legislative authorities to ensure the development of different training programs for healthcare providers involving the aspects of risks and treatment for drug users. The specific goal of increasing access to the opioid treatment program is also possible through the application of a specific legal act of drug cure. The main focus of the proposed funding health policy is to allocate suitable grants to health sector at federal and local levels to provide healthcare services to drug abusers.  

Summary of Potential Unintended Outcomes

           The main objective of proposed healthcare policy against opioid misuse can only successfully be achieved through the active application of related outcomes. The multi-facet approach of the policy requires consideration of different associated aspects. The role of the drug monitoring program is critical to assess the actual degree of risk prevails in a country in the form of an opioid emergency. There is a requirement of additional funding to ensure rapid functioning of drug control department. The revised health policy in the context of drug issue is need of time to consider drug control as one basic healthcare priority. Proper consideration of drug assessment programs can be helpful to achieve anticipated objectives for the health issue of opioid misuse. Establishment of proper health policy in case of issue of opioid concern can be helpful to adopt evidence-based prevention strategies. It is advised for policymakers to consider the option of development of various information campaigns for both healthcare providers and the general public. 

           Application of different knowledge-based campaigns can be one significant option to identify actual causes of this growing concern. Identification of root-cause of this growing concern is first to step to propose necessary practical measures suitably. The general public needs to have a clear understanding about the health issue of opioid use and how it can negatively influence the overall healthcare domain. The knowledge-based programs can also be helpful to attain the outcomes in case of necessary treatment and prevention. The unintended outcome of policy can also be observed in the case of framing opioid use as one chronic medical disease that requires timely and appropriate healthcare treatment. Medication and behavioral therapies are also in account to meet the actual standards of treatment against drug abuse. Development of targeted campaigns and practical strategies is one vital approach to ensure proper execution of health policy for the issue of the opioid epidemic. Critical evaluation of the practical strategies is also a necessary step of health policy approach to assessing the actual effectiveness and suitability of proposed policy measures. Desired application of health policy requires the development of different relevant entities. The unintended outcomes for this policy can also be observed in case of growing awareness of healthcare providers and overall health systems (Saloner et al., 2018). It can be a suitable source of information for healthcare professionals to develop a necessary connection with patients and the whole communities to successfully deals with the concern of opioid use. Identification of all the risks and the alternatives is mandatory to measure the intensity of the issue and proper suitable solutions according to the actual condition. 

Summary of Potential Stakeholders

           Identification of actual potential stakeholders in case of the opioid epidemic is an integral aspect to effectively deal with different stages of policy formation and policy acquisition. This form of consideration is also helpful to determine the responsible authorities in this manner. The objective of additional legislative strategies can only be achieved through the assurance of the active role of all the main stakeholders. The medical community in the forms of healthcare professionals, nursing staff, and drug distributors are established as critical shareholders in the entire scenario of the health issue of opioid misuse. The legislative authorities are also closely concerned with the healthcare domain to exist in the country. Their role is vital to estimate the actual intensity of this problem in the country and propose suitable preventive measures. 

           The role of accountable care organizations is also imperative when it comes to the assessment of proper healthcare services for all citizens. It is essential to ensure proper check and balance to the practical measures adopted by these agencies. The healthcare agencies are primary stakeholders in this context. Pharmacists have also involved the drastic issue of opioid misuse (Penm et al., 2017). The suppliers of opioid in the country are also major shareholders when authorities are interested to implement proper health policy for the crisis of opioid. Undoubtedly, different economic benefits of the suppliers involved in the whole scenario and they surely interested to vote against the policy of increased funding for an opioid issue. 

           In concluding remarks, it is necessary to indicate that the opioid epidemic is one serious and complex concern that requires the necessary attention of different authorities. The role of different stakeholders is critical to identify the actual issue and propose practical measures accordingly. Application of multi-faceted strategy is proposed to successfully deal with this issue and provide better healthcare services to the victims. On the other hand, the restriction in the form of drug supply is also essential to measure to minimize the risk of the health issue of inappropriate opioid use. 

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Hagemeier, N. E. (2018). Introduction to the opioid epidemic: The economic burden on the healthcare system and impact on quality of life. Am J Manag Care, 24(10, suppl), S200–S206.

Penm, J., MacKinnon, N. J., Boone, J. M., Ciaccia, A., McNamee, C., & Winstanley, E. L. (2017). Strategies and policies to address the opioid epidemic: A case study of Ohio. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 57(2), S148–S153.

Saloner, B., McGinty, E. E., Beletsky, L., Bluthenthal, R., Beyrer, C., Botticelli, M., & Sherman, S. G. (2018). A public health strategy for the opioid crisis. Public Health Reports, 133(1_suppl), 24S-34S.

Stoicea, N., Costa, A., Periel, L., Uribe, A., Weaver, T., & Bergese, S. D. (2019). Current perspectives on the opioid crisis in the US healthcare system: A comprehensive literature review. Medicine, 98(20).