Your presentation should address the following:
Identify the audience:
If the public health issue has been addressed by the medical/nursing profession, has the public health issue been addressed by the government?
Has a bill or legislation been proposed at any level of government?
Has your (anyone in the group) local representative addressed this issue?
If the issue has been addressed, in what manner has it been addressed? What is the bill and what is the outcome of legislation?
Has any other non governmental organization (NGO) national or local organization addressed this issue? If so, in what manner and what was the outcome?
Explain how the government can affect this issue:
Describe the purpose of the bill or describe a potential bill.
Summarize how the bill (or potential bill) would address the problem and how and who would pay?
Identify the issue:
Frame the public health issue in one sentence.
Explain the issue and its impact on cost, access, and quality.
Provide peer reviewed, academic data to substantiate the extent to which the problem impacts health, access to care or services, cost, and/or quality of care (or not).
Anticipate unintended outcomes of the bill:
What are the potential unintended outcomes of not addressing this issue at a governmental level?
What groups might be affected by these unintended consequences?
Brainstorm stakeholders – Stakeholders are organized groups with power and resources to influence policy:
Based on the intended and unintended outcomes of addressing this public health issue, what specific stakeholder groups will be likely to support or oppose the bill?
Follow the money.
Anticipate what your audience will need to know about the issue and the government intervention. Anticipating what your audience will need to know is key to focused, time-effective research:
What questions will your stakeholders, including congressman, have about the issue and how it impacts health, access to care and services, cost, and quality of care?
What questions will your stakeholders, including congressman, have about the bill and how it impacts health, access to care, cost, and quality of care?
