· Identify a policy that is not usually intended to be a health policy but that you think may have important health implications.
Subsidized afterschool day care programs.
· Describe why an evaluation of that policy is informative (e.g., determining effects of the policy, or primarily a test of hypothesized mediators).
Determining the effects of the policy on parental health and child health.
· Specify the outcomes and populations you think most affected or least affected by the policy.
Subsidized childcare during working hours likely contributes to decreased parental stress, decreased strain on family finances in poor neighborhoods, and decreased accidental injuries and death related to unsupervised activities.
· Propose a study design to evaluate the policy.
Case-control – could implement afterschool care in approximately ½ of a city school district.
· Describe biggest challenge to implementing and drawing inferences about the impact of the policy on health.
Implementation – funding. Afterschool programs are most needed in poorer neighborhoods, but often draw their funding from parcel and income taxes that are likely to be lower in those neighborhoods most in need.