Public Health Policy Identify a

¶ … Public Health Policy Identify a Current Public Health Policy Identify a current public health policy (at the national/federal or state level) that pertains to your chosen topic A major challenge that many states and local communities are dealing with is: the number of mentally ill that have been involved in some sort of violent activity. Part of the reason for this is because, of a shift in the kinds of treatment options that are available to many patients who are suffering from mental illness.

As there has been an emphasis on: placing these individuals within the local communities on an outpatient basis. However, the number of problems associated with this strategy is creating add challenges for many regions. This is because they are not receiving, the kinds of support or treatment that they would have available in many institutions. At which point, a variety of individuals will become non-compliant by: not taking their medication or following the instructions of their doctor.

Once this occurs, it means that these people will more than likely: commit a crime or become involved in some kind of violent activities. A good example of this can be seen, by looking at a study that was conducted by the Justice Department. They found, that the total amount of people who are in state prisons and jails accounted for nearly 55% of the male inmates. While, females are: 63% of inmates inside these institutions.

(Glaze, 2006) This is problematic, because various efforts to dramatically reduce costs associated with treating these individuals, is causing the amounts of violent crime to increase. Over the course of time, this will have an adverse impact on the quality of life in many communities and in the prison system (i.e. overcrowding). This is the point that the status quo will be required to change. Our objectives are to understand, the long-term impact of this policy on: different regions and how they are affecting communities.

Outline the objectives of the current policy The current policy is designed to reduce the underlying costs associated with mentally ill patients. As, there has been a shift away from focusing on addressing these issues through: traditional mental institutions. Instead, many politicians feel that the best way to help these individuals is by: having them become a part of the community. The basic idea is to be able to integrate them on an outpatient basis.

This is supposed to reduce the total costs and give these people a sense of empowerment. However, the reality is that the status quo is causing the number of violent related incidents to increase. The reason why, is because many of these patients will not take their medication and have become involved in the use of illegal substances. When you put these different elements together, it means that the total amounts of violent crime will increase.

This is significant, because it is illustrating how the current approach is causing many communities to see increasing crime rates related to this public policy approach. As a result, some kind action must be taken to deal with these challenges. Once this occurs, it will provide specific insights about: how the current plan is not working and what tactics must be used to mitigate the negative effects on various regions.

(Schwartz, 1998) Propose a research study (inclusive of study design, hypothesis, methodology and bivariate / multivariate statistical analysis) that would yield results which can be implemented to better address the current needs of the affected / target population The hypothesis that we are proposing is: that some kind of classification system should be used to determine who is safe to live in the community. This will maintain the lowest cost structure possible, while preventing the most dangerous mental patients from being released.

The study design will survey various mental health professionals about: if a classification system would be effective. At the same time, you would want to listen to the views from within: the community and among government officials. This will be accomplished by conducting an anonymous survey of these individuals, with an emphasis on how the current approach could be augmented. Once this occurs, it will provide specific insights about the way the current policy is contributing to the underlying problem and what steps can be taken to address these issues.

The methodology that we will be using is: quantitative research. To analyze the information, we will be utilizing multivariate statistical analysis. This is when, you are looking at a number of different variables to understand the overall scope of the problem and identify solutions. ("Multivariate Social Statistics," 2006) Comment on the environmental / political policies (organizational, community, state.