HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

Health policy and management



ASSIGNMENT 2 - HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS

After selecting one policy document, complete the following sections accordingly. Your total word count should be a minimum of and a maximum of, and that includes the text in this pro-forma.

Policy Title

Mental Health Plan 2007

Country

Gambia

How, when, and why did the policy come into being?

The mental policy was developed in 2007. It was developed because mental health policy gives a general direction for mental health by defining a vision, values, principles and objectives, and by establishing a broad model for action to achieve that vision. The policy came into being for providing important guidelines to the patients in order to make it easier for them before undergoing any medical treatment. It was a requirement of the general public and this step came out at a right time for the Gambian citizens.

What are the key objectives of the policy?

The key objectives of the policy were to maintain adequate level of treatment for patients, to ensure good quality of medical treatment, creating proper monitoring and evaluation system of patients.

Who are the policy-makers?

The policy makers are the Health representatives and Government representatives who work together to create a policy for the general public.

Which, if any, interest groups do they represent? Have they been consulted and what sources and kinds of advice have been obtained?

The interest group that they represent consists mostly of a medical staff. They must have received advice and consulted medical specialists before making this policy. It is a necessary step that has a lot of value before making policies.

What have been the stages and methods, including organisational arrangements and structures, used in the policy-making process?

There are several stages that are included in the organisational arrangements and structures which are used in the policy making process and it will be discussed in detail in the following columns.

Define the problem

Quantify: Be specific about the problem's scope and magnitude

Who is affected?

Specific nature of the problem

Past history

Causes

The problem is of healthcare policy and it was the responsibility of health representatives and Gambian government to develop an effective policy in this regard. This is the reason why Mental Health Plan 2007 was enforced to resolve this problem. Since governments are accountable to their citizens for both their policies and plans and in using public funds, it is crucial that the policies and plans needs to be assessed and changes must be made if they are not having their desired outcomes or effects. The plans mostly even define the predictable outputs, targets and indicators which are usually assessed in whether the policy and plan have been successfully implemented in accordance to the plan. Public healthcare policies are implemented and managed through open, networked systems and are sensitive to the external environment. The contingent theory in public management suggests that organizations rely on their environment and effective policy implementation is constrained by the environmental characteristics. The policy implementation environment is likely to affect how policy information is disseminated ...