Health Policy 3400 Midterm Questions With Complete
Solutions
'Focusing Events' correct answers Sudden
• Relatively uncommon
• Can be reasonably defined as 'harmful' or
revealing the possibility of potentially greater
future harms
• Have harms that are concentrated in a
particular geographical area or community of
interest
• Known to policy makers and the public
simultaneously
• Focusing events may create policy windows - opens idea for
things to get onto agenda and for things to be done to address
these things
ex.
• SARS virus - wake up call to reinvest in public health system
after previous Harris gov derailed it
• Sandy hook - sparked concern on gun control
'Politics-as-usual or 'Incrementalism' correct answers policy
change occurs, if
it does at all, through a gradual
accumulation of small changes
o Vs an injection of half a billion dollars in the system to make
new agencies
,'Stages Heuristic' Policy Analysis correct answers 'Stages' =
stages of the policy process
• 'Heuristic' = an approach to analysis
• 'Stages heuristic' = an approach to policy analysis that breaks
down the policy process into stages and analyzes each stage
• Focuses on the process by which policies are initiated,
formulated, implemented, evaluated
• Any policy analyses should examine each element - you are
looking at a stage heuristic approach
1. AgendaSetting - Why did the policy get on the agenda?
2. Policy formulation - Who was involved in formulating the
policy How was the policy arrived at and agreed upon?
3. Decision making
4. Policy implementation - How were the policy's objectives
pursued? How was the policy put into action/practice?
5. Policy evaluation - Did the policy achieve its objectives?
What were the unintended consequences of the
policy?
• Lancet report - analyzed wait times correct answers o Urgent
care is doing well in Canada
o "Urgent medical/surgical care is generally timely and of high
quality in Canada."
"Canada's reasonable performance on composite quality metrics
such as amenable mortality suggests that these wait times for
elective care do not necessarily translate to worse health
outcomes.
,o The wait times DON'T directly translate to the health
outcomes
o Wait times don't translate to doing worse - similar health
outcomes with other countries with shorter wait times
• Wait time alliance group correct answers "Government
mandated legislation for the creation of benchmark targets,
mandatory tracking, and reporting of wait times in
psychiatry do not currently exist in Ontario."
• Wait time alliance group - come together and make
benchmarks themselves for psychiatric care
o Tried to create on own terms
o Hospitals can voluntarily
o not public policy - just initiative
1984: correct answers Canada Health Act Passed
A Brief Policy (Legal) History in Canada correct answers
Criminally prohibited since 1923
Medical cannabis first legalized in 2001
Failed decriminalization (2003, PM Chrétien; 2004, PM Martin)
• 2003 attempt died - from pressure from the US
o They will make the border crossings super slow if Canada tries
to decriminalize that
Anti-drug strategy (2007, PM Harper)
Attempts at mandatory minimums (2009, PM Harper)
, • Harper Anti Drug - wanted to take a more aggressive approach
to drug control (very anti drug)
• Intro of mandatory drug jail time - if found with possession
Activity based funding correct answers Want to id
problems/areas and tie funding to solving that problem
o Not just giving hospital their global budget and leaving them
there
Actual wait times vs reasonable wait times correct answers wait
times exceed reasonable wait times in 70% of comparisons
Agenda Setting correct answers "Process by which certain
issues come
onto the policy agenda from the much
larger number of issues potentially
worthy of attention by policy makers."
• Policy change begins with agenda
setting (Kingdon)
Agenda Setting: correct answers process of defining what is and
what is not a priority. Ex. Allocating limited resources,
complicates process, impacted by affiliations
Alternative Funding/Service Arrangements correct answers
Eliminate inappropriate tests and treatments
• Recruit/increase pay for key human resources
radiation therapists didn't make enough to live in Toronto - so
they left and wait times went up
• Increase after-hours care
Solutions
'Focusing Events' correct answers Sudden
• Relatively uncommon
• Can be reasonably defined as 'harmful' or
revealing the possibility of potentially greater
future harms
• Have harms that are concentrated in a
particular geographical area or community of
interest
• Known to policy makers and the public
simultaneously
• Focusing events may create policy windows - opens idea for
things to get onto agenda and for things to be done to address
these things
ex.
• SARS virus - wake up call to reinvest in public health system
after previous Harris gov derailed it
• Sandy hook - sparked concern on gun control
'Politics-as-usual or 'Incrementalism' correct answers policy
change occurs, if
it does at all, through a gradual
accumulation of small changes
o Vs an injection of half a billion dollars in the system to make
new agencies
,'Stages Heuristic' Policy Analysis correct answers 'Stages' =
stages of the policy process
• 'Heuristic' = an approach to analysis
• 'Stages heuristic' = an approach to policy analysis that breaks
down the policy process into stages and analyzes each stage
• Focuses on the process by which policies are initiated,
formulated, implemented, evaluated
• Any policy analyses should examine each element - you are
looking at a stage heuristic approach
1. AgendaSetting - Why did the policy get on the agenda?
2. Policy formulation - Who was involved in formulating the
policy How was the policy arrived at and agreed upon?
3. Decision making
4. Policy implementation - How were the policy's objectives
pursued? How was the policy put into action/practice?
5. Policy evaluation - Did the policy achieve its objectives?
What were the unintended consequences of the
policy?
• Lancet report - analyzed wait times correct answers o Urgent
care is doing well in Canada
o "Urgent medical/surgical care is generally timely and of high
quality in Canada."
"Canada's reasonable performance on composite quality metrics
such as amenable mortality suggests that these wait times for
elective care do not necessarily translate to worse health
outcomes.
,o The wait times DON'T directly translate to the health
outcomes
o Wait times don't translate to doing worse - similar health
outcomes with other countries with shorter wait times
• Wait time alliance group correct answers "Government
mandated legislation for the creation of benchmark targets,
mandatory tracking, and reporting of wait times in
psychiatry do not currently exist in Ontario."
• Wait time alliance group - come together and make
benchmarks themselves for psychiatric care
o Tried to create on own terms
o Hospitals can voluntarily
o not public policy - just initiative
1984: correct answers Canada Health Act Passed
A Brief Policy (Legal) History in Canada correct answers
Criminally prohibited since 1923
Medical cannabis first legalized in 2001
Failed decriminalization (2003, PM Chrétien; 2004, PM Martin)
• 2003 attempt died - from pressure from the US
o They will make the border crossings super slow if Canada tries
to decriminalize that
Anti-drug strategy (2007, PM Harper)
Attempts at mandatory minimums (2009, PM Harper)
, • Harper Anti Drug - wanted to take a more aggressive approach
to drug control (very anti drug)
• Intro of mandatory drug jail time - if found with possession
Activity based funding correct answers Want to id
problems/areas and tie funding to solving that problem
o Not just giving hospital their global budget and leaving them
there
Actual wait times vs reasonable wait times correct answers wait
times exceed reasonable wait times in 70% of comparisons
Agenda Setting correct answers "Process by which certain
issues come
onto the policy agenda from the much
larger number of issues potentially
worthy of attention by policy makers."
• Policy change begins with agenda
setting (Kingdon)
Agenda Setting: correct answers process of defining what is and
what is not a priority. Ex. Allocating limited resources,
complicates process, impacted by affiliations
Alternative Funding/Service Arrangements correct answers
Eliminate inappropriate tests and treatments
• Recruit/increase pay for key human resources
radiation therapists didn't make enough to live in Toronto - so
they left and wait times went up
• Increase after-hours care
