Problem Statement
Making a problem statement feasible is one of the challenges facing healthcare policy analysis (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2017). For the current project, a possible broad problem statement might be the outbreak of flu in the state of Illinois in 2029. The narrow problem statement would be the ways of managing the risk of an outbreak of flu in Illinois in 2019. The question to be answered is: “In what ways can the Illinois State Public Health Department decrease the risk of a flu outbreak in Illinois in 2029?” This value-driven statement provides information on the direction that the policy analysis may take.
Background
Outbreaks of influenza hurt a large number of countries and populations every year. Adverse outcomes of this infectious disease include the loss of the ability to work and lead a normal life due to several symptoms, ranging from mild to severe ones. Seasonal outbreaks of flu result in many people experiencing fatigue, sore throat, and fever, respiratory failure, or even death (Nguyen, 2018). The seriousness of the problem is proved by statistics from all over the world in general, and for the state of Illinois, in particular. During this recent winter season, there have been 1229 flu-associated ICU admissions and 319 outbreaks in the state (Illinois Department of Public Health, 2018). While the baseline for outpatient visits for “influenza-like illness” is 1.8%, there have been 4.78% of such visits recorded for this specific season. The percentage of flu-positive tests was 19.3% (3070 of 15872) (Illinois Department of Public Health, 2018). The most tragic statistics are represented by the number of pediatric deaths – two have been recorded during this season (Illinois Department of Public Health, 2018). The seriousness of the problem is obvious, and it is necessary to work on the prevention of such statistics in the future.
Landscape
There are three major categories of stakeholders related to the problem of flu outbreaks: the government, citizens, and healthcare workers. State officials must arrange the most favorable conditions for healthcare workers to be able to disseminate information about influenza among citizens and to provide people with the necessary prevention and treatment procedures. Each year, the number of types of influenza increases, affecting many people (Jonges et al., 2013). The task of healthcare professionals is to be prepared for an epidemic but, simultaneously, do everything possible to prevent it. This can be done through educational materials and the spreading of data on flu via social media. The third category of stakeholders related to the problem is citizens. They constitute the biggest and most vulnerable group of stakeholders. To ensure effective cooperation between all stakeholders, it is necessary to provide relevant financial and informational support. Citizens should be informed about the severe outcomes that may be caused by influenza, while healthcare workers should do everything possible to minimize the negative impact. The role of state officials is to provide the necessary funding to minimize the losses caused by an epidemic.
Options
Two of the most effective options available to address the problem are surveillance and antiviral medicines and vaccination (Rubinstein, Marcu, Yardley, & Michie, 2015; Suwantarat & Apisarnthanarak, 2015; Woolhouse, Rambaut, & Kellam, 2015). Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages that impact on their overall effectiveness. Vaccination is the most effective method of minimizing the risk of catching flu and spreading it to others (“Key facts about,” 2017). Another benefit of flu vaccines is that they can be adapted to suit the specific patient, depending on a person’s age and health condition, such as for children, elderly people, and pregnant women (“Key facts about,” 2017). Vaccination is a good preventive measure and can save money on the treatment of the disease. There are many places where people can be vaccinated: hospitals, clinics, health departments, or even offices and schools. Another benefit of vaccination is that it can prevent more serious chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes (“Key facts about,” 2017). However, this method has one serious disadvantage: it is quite costly (Semuels, 2013). According to Semuels (2013), the reasons for vaccines being so expensive are associated with the price of materials involved and the inability to predict the quantities that will be needed which leads to destroying vaccines in large numbers every year.
A second option for managing the outbreak of flu is surveillance. This method is manifested through collecting data on the spread of the virus and making assumptions about the possible outbreaks of infections. The advantage of this option is its moderate cost. Surveillance may be based on the data gathered at healthcare institutions without resorting to any additional techniques. However, Woolhouse et al. (2015) remark that there is a serious limitation to surveillance. It has frequently been noted that healthcare workers’ observations have not been able to predict a flu outbreak and, therefore, the situation may still lead to an epidemic.
Recommendations
Taking into consideration the benefits and limitations of both options, it seems more relevant to choose vaccination as the one that best addresses the problem. Outcomes of selecting vaccination include; fewer numbers of people being infected, a decreased rate of influenza-related hospital admissions, and a smaller number of deaths caused by flu. The reasons as to this option being the best one are concerned with its effectiveness. Although it may be more expensive than surveillance, in the long run, vaccination proves to be cost-effective.
References
Illinois Department of Public Health. (2018). Influenza surveillance update. Web.
Jonges, M., Meijer, A., Fouchier, R. A., Koch, G., Li, J., Pan, J. C., … Koopmans, M. P. (2013). Guiding outbreak management by the use of influenza A(HzNx) virus sequence analysis. Euro Surveillance, 18(16), 1-8.
Key facts about seasons flu vaccine. (2017). Web.
Nguyen, H. H. (2018). Influenza.Medscape. Web.
Rubinstein, H., Marcu, A., Yardley, L., & Michie, S. (2015). Public preferences for vaccination and antiviral medicines under different pandemic flu outbreak scenarios. BMJ Public Health, 15(1), 1-13.
Semuels, A. (2013). Why does a flu shot cost so much?Los Angeles Times. Web.
Suwantarat, N., & Apisarnthanarak, A. (2015). Risks to healthcare workers with emerging diseases: Lessons from MERS-CoV, Ebola, SARS, and avian flu. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, 28(4), 349-361.
Teitelbaum, J. B., & Wilensky, S. E. (2017). Essentials of health policy and law. (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Woolhouse, M. E. J., Rambaut, A., & Kellam, P. (2015). Lessons from Ebola: Improving infectious disease surveillance to inform outbreak management. Science Translational Medicine, 7(307), 307rv5-307rv5.