Global Healthcare Comparison Matrix and Narrative Statement
If you talk about a possible poor health outcome, do you believe that outcome will occur? Do you believe eye contact and personal contact should be avoided?
You would have a difficult time practicing as a nurse if you believed these to be true. But they are very real beliefs in some cultures.
Differences in cultural beliefs, subcultures, religion, ethnic customs, dietary customs, language, and a host of other factors contribute to the complex environment that surrounds global healthcare issues. Failure to understand and account for these differences can create a gulf between practitioners and the public they serve.
In this Assignment, you will examine a global health issue and consider the approach to this issue by the United States and by one other country.
To Prepare:
- Review the World Health Organization (WHO) global health agenda and select one global health issue to focus on for this Assignment.
- Select at least one additional country to compare to the U.S. for this Assignment.
- Reflect on how the global health issue you selected is approached in the U.S. and in the additional country you selected.
- Review and download the Global Health Comparison Matrix
Assignment Instruction
Page 1: Global Health Comparison Matrix
Focusing on the country you selected and the U.S., complete the Global Health Comparison Matrix. Be sure to address the following:
Consider the U.S. national/federal health policies that have been adapted for the global health issue you selected from the WHO global health agenda. Compare these policies to the additional country you selected for study.
- Explain the strengths and weaknesses of each policy.
- Explain how the social determinants of health may impact the global health issue you selected. Be specific and provide examples.
- Using the WHO’s Organization’s global health agenda as well as the results of your research, analyze how each country’s government addresses cost, quality, and access to the global health issue selected.
- Explain how the health policy you selected might impact the health of the global population. Be specific and provide examples.
- Explain how the health policy you selected might impact the role of the nurse in each country.
- Explain how global health issues impact local healthcare organizations and policies in both countries. Be specific and provide examples.
Page 2: A Plan for Social Change
Reflect on the global health policy comparison and analysis you conducted in Part 1 of the Assignment and the impact that global health issues may have on the world, the U.S., your community, as well as your practice as a nurse leader.
In a 1-page response, create a plan for social change that incorporates a global perspective or lens into your local practice and role as a nurse leader.
- Explain how you would advocate for the incorporation of a global perspective or lens into your local practice and role as a nurse leader.
- Explain how the incorporation of a global perspective or lens might impact your local practice and role as a nurse leader.
- Explain how the incorporation of a global perspective or lens into your local practice as a nurse leader represents and contributes to social change. Be specific and provide examples
Solution
Global Health Comparison Matrix: Child Mortality
| Global Healthcare Issue | Under-five mortality | |
| Description | Reducing child mortality has been part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global health agenda over the years. High mortality rates among children under 5 years are increasingly reported in several countries around the world (WHO, 2022). When compared with other countries, the United States records high rates of under-five infant mortality each year (The World Bank, 2020). India has been chosen as the country of comparison in the current analysis. | |
| Country | United States | India |
| Describe the policy in each country related to the identified healthcare issue | The United States policies that focus on reducing childhood mortality are the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program (Bhatt & Beck-Sagué, 2018) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (Currie & Chorniy, 2021). | In India, the RCG program that was implemented by the government in 1997 have helped to curb child mortality (Alderman et al., 2019). |
| What are the strengths of this policy? | Both the MIECHV and the CHIP encourage multi-agency cooperations, a factor that has significantly helped to reduce infant mortality (Currie & Chorniy, 2021) | India has witnessed a significant decline in infant mortality since the introduction of the RCH program. (Alderman et al., 2019). |
| What are the weaknesses of this policy? | The limited expansion of Medicaid by some states has hindered extensive implementation of the MIECHV (Bhatt et al., 2018). | The RCH does not adequately address malnutrition which is one of the major causes of child mortality in India (Alderman et al., 2019).
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| Explain how the social determinants of health may impact the specified global health issue. (Be specific and provide examples) | Higher rates of child mortality are reported among low-income earners when compared with middle- and high-income earners (Bhatt et al., 2018). | Rural Indian families report higher child mortality rates than urban dwellers (Alderman et al., 2019). f
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| How has each country’ government addressed cost, quality, and access to the selected global health issue? | The United States advocates for federal programs such as the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to help it to address cost, quality, and access (Bhatt & Beck-Sagué, 2018). | The Indian government relies on the National Medical Service Corporation (NMSC) to address cost, quality, and access issues (Alderman et al., 2019). |
| How has the identified health policy impacted the health of the global population? (Be specific and provide examples) | MIECHV has caused positive impacts on the health of infants globally (Bhatt & Beck-Sagué, 2018). | Both India and other nations globally have been able to reduce under-five mortality rates due (The World Bank, 2020). |
| Describe the potential impact of the identified health policy on the role of nurse in each country. | The MIECHV policy has caused the role of the nurse to revolve around reding infant mortality (Bhatt & Beck-Sagué, 2018). | The RCH program has influenced nurses to engage in advanced training to acquire skills for improving infant health and reducing mortality (Alderman et al., 2019). |
| Explain how global health issues impact local healthcare organizations and policies in both countries. (Be specific and provide examples) | Global health issues inform the government’s decisions to direct funds to local healthcare organizations and develop policies that are aimed at addressing those issues and improving population health (Bhatt & Beck-Sagué, 2018). | Due to the influence of global health issues, the Indian government increasingly offers financial support for local organization and enact policies to address HIV and tuberculosis (Alderman et al., 2019). |
A Plan for Social Change
Nurses, as advocates, play an important role in helping their organizations to implement interventions that will generate positive health outcomes for patients. For example, the nurse leader can utilize a number of strategies to advocate for the integration of a global lens into local practice (Azar, 2021). One of the approaches is by holding meetings with key stakeholders to agree on the global issues to be given priority in the practice setting. For example, it is important to hold meetings with pediatricians and representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify the best actions to take to reduce under-five infant mortality (Robbins & Davidhizar, 2020).
The other way to incorporate the global lens is to utilize healthcare technology such as telehealth to reach populations that cannot visit the healthcare physically. In both the United States and India, rurality is preventing families from accessing healthcare services for their infants, a factor that increases child mortality (Anders et al., 2021). Telehealth can help to address this access barrier and reduce under-five mortality rates.
Incorporating a global lens into local practice will not only affect the practice setting and personal role as a nurse leader but it will also represent and contribute to social change. For instance, the action will improve service delivery in local practice. It will also increase the nurse leader’s involvement in advancing clinical practice (Anders et al., 2021). As far as social change is concerned, integrating a global perspective will enhance social and cultural relationships between populations and healthcare providers for enhanced service delivery (Azar, 2021; Robbins & Davidhizar, 2020). Through effective collaboration, healthcare settings can benefit significantly from viewing healthcare issues from a global perspective.
References
Alderman, H., Nguyen, P. H., & Menon, P. (2019). Progress in reducing child mortality and stunting in India: an application of the Lives Saved Tool. Health Policy and Planning, 34(9), 667-675. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czz088.
Anders, R. L., Jackson, D., Davidson, P. M., & Daly, J. P. (2021). Nursing leadership for 21st Century. Revista Latino-americana de Enfermagem, 29, e3472. https://doi.org/10.1590/1518-8345.0000.3472
Azar K. (2021). The evolving role of nurse leadership in the fight for health equity. Nurse Leader, 19(6), 571–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2021.08.006
Bhatt, C. B., & Beck-Sagué, C. M. (2018). Medicaid expansion and infant mortality in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 108(4), 565-567.
Chen, A., Oster, E., & Williams, H. (2016). Why is infant mortality higher in the United States than in Europe? American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8(2), 89-124.
Currie, J. & Chorniy, A. (2021). Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Program improve child health and reduce poverty but face threats. Academic Pediatrics, 21(8S), S146–S153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2021.01.009
Robbins, B., & Davidhizar, R. (2020). Transformational leadership in health care today. The Health Care Manager, 39(3), 117-121.
The World Bank. (2020). Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
World Health Organization (WHO). (2022). Rethinking the child health agenda. https://www.who.int/activities/rethinking-the-child-health-agenda