Healthcare is one of the principal spheres of human life, and it is no wonder that numerous programs intend to improve it. Cities and counties develop long-term plans and implement them for the benefit of all their citizens. Virginia is no exception to the rule, as its healthcare development plan provides for the measures to take from 2016 to 2020. Virginia’s plan for well-being is one of the clear examples of long-term healthcare plans.
Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being
The plan of healthcare development in Virginia, known as Virginia’s plan for well-being, appeared in 2016. According to Marissa Levine, the goal of the program developers was to “get to the point where Virginia can be the healthiest state in the nation” (Virginia Department of Health, 2017). The principal idea of the plan represents a tree, on the roots of which there are healthy communities. The task for the community is to ensure that all of its children have a strong start in life. In the plan, the combination of the healthcare system and preventive actions consequently leads to the general well-being of the population. Therefore, the key idea of Virginia’s plan for well-being is the collaboration of the four elements to create better health indicators.
Review of the development process
Virginia’s plan for well-being has several stakeholders, e.g., the Virginia center for health innovation and the Virginia Department of Health. Besides, it is “a companion plan to Virginia’s 2016 State Innovation Model Health Improvement Plan” (Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being 2016-2020, 2016). The first two stakeholders track the progress of the plan, and the companion plans share similar goals, such as “improving health care quality” and “improving the health of populations” (Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being 2016-2020, 2016). Their cooperation contributes to better results in the area of health in the state.
Virginia’s plan for well-being includes four principal aims, which consist of many goals. The aims are to create a healthy community, provide children with a strong start, develop preventive actions, and improve the system of healthcare in general (Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being 2016-2020, 2016). The Virginia center for health innovation and the Virginia Department of Health evaluates the progress of the plan to see if the results correspond to the initial objectives, and if not, what actions to take to improve the performance.
How the plan and the process differ from the frameworks
No development plan is perfect, and there are always some indicators that are lower than the others. According to the annual report (Annual Report, 2019), In Virginia’s plan for well-being, these indicators are, for example, the number of pregnancies of females aged 15 to 19 and black infants’ deaths. And, at the same time, some indicators are higher than expected. They include the number of Virginian adults who report positive well-being and the number of teenagers enrolled in an institution of higher education. The perspective areas of work are bad habits among Virginians and social factors that lead to health problems (Virginia 2019 County Health Rankings Report, 2019). Elimination of the factors mentioned above would help equate the indicators of the national and states results.
Conclusion
Virginia’s plan for well-being is an example of how to develop a program that can improve the health of the population in four years. It includes all the problem areas in the healthcare system of Virginia and focuses on the health of the next generations. The central idea of the healthcare program contributes to the increase in the health of children and a better future for them.
References
Annual Report, 2019. (2019). Web.
Virginia 2019 County Health Rankings Report (2019). Web.
Virginia Department of Health. (2017). Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being. Web.
Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being 2016-2020. (2016). Web.