POLICY MODELS

Policy Models: Reducing Mental Health Disparities among LEP Individuals

A policy is a course of action or plan used by an agent of change to realize a certain outcome or goal (Porsche, 2023). The policy is the process that the agent uses to realize the policy solution, which is the answer to the identified policy problems. In the US governmental structure, fundamental policymakers include judiciary officials, legislators, and members of the executive (Porsche, 2023). Nurses can engage in the policymaking process through advocacy, which involves collaborating with policymaking agents or policymakers to influence the process of policy-development or gather support for certain policy options (Porsche, 2023). Different models provide different frameworks for achieving this. This text analyses why the narrative policy framework would be the most appropriate for the proposed advocacy, which seeks to address mental health disparities among individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).

The Narrative Policy Framework

The narrative policy framework (NPF) is based on the assumption that the complexities of public policy can be more effectively explained using narratives or stories because these resonate better with stakeholders (Crow & Jones, 2018). Porsche (2017) defines a narrative as a story detailing a series of events based on a plot that presents a specific moral to the story. The NPF attempts to use a story to guide the development of policy solutions (Porsche, 2017). As is the case when telling a story, the NPF uses media, communication strategies, and information to develop policy narratives that influence public opinion about a policy and shape the policymakers preferences (Porsche, 2017). At a minimum, the narratives have four main features: setting, plot, characters, moral of the story (Porsche, 2017). The setting is the context of the policy narrative, the plot is a description of...…be used to develop policy narratives that are congruent with their culture and preferences (Jones et al., 2014). As Jones et al. (2014) suggest, the most memorable narratives are those that challenge the status quo and persuade the audience to change their beliefs.

The developed policy narratives will then be used at the meso level, which involves using groups or coalitions to influence belief systems at the subsystem level (Baumgartner et al., 2018). At the meso level, the agent will push for the policy narratives through partnerships with the media, local celebrities, local entrepreneurs, professional organizations, community leaders, and religious leaders that together will constitute an advocacy coalition. The advocacy coalition will be used to educate the public on mental health and at the same time use its influence to push for the proposed policy narratives at the macro level.

In conclusion, the NPFs three-level strategy provides an invaluable…