Within the context of public health, policy development includes the advancement and implementation of public health law, regulations, or voluntary practices that influence systems development, organizational change, and individual behavior to promote improvements in health. Public health professionals play an important role in policy development by conducting policy-relevant research, communicating findings in a manner that facilitates action, developing partnerships, and encouraging the efficient use of public resources (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015, para. 2). Policy analysis plays a critical role of the policy formulation and implementation process by facilitating understanding of the policyàpurposes, expected outcomes, and how it interacts with other policies as well as assessing the effectiveness of the implemented policy and to determine and initiate necessary modifications.

For this assignment, assume that you are a healthcare policy analyst for your state or local health department. Visit the CSU Online Library to find a peer-reviewed article published within the last 10 years pertaining to public health research and practice or health policy reform. Utilizing the public policy analysis and public health research skills you acquired in this unit, write a critique of the selected article that includes the following information.

• Briefly introduce and summarize the article.
• Explain if the author or authors’ arguments support the main point.
• Define and critically analyze the major public health issue in the article.
• Illustrate how you can utilize the information in the article to influence the policymaking process and public health policy and practice in your state or local health department.
• Identify a relevant policy evaluation model you can employ to determine the best possible policy solution to the issue in the article.