Policy Brief
Instructions:
Briefing papers provide key decision-makers with information about pertinent issues. A briefing paper (also known as a “Policy Brief” or “Issue Brief”) is a summary of facts and often recommends a course of action. The intent is to inform and highlight one particular topic, such as an area of health disparity, or other issue pertaining to public health. This type of professional writing usually concludes with proposed recommendations. In large organizations, leaders and key decision-makers must constantly learn and retain information about a large body of information, much of which is constantly changing. ere is some additional helpfu information about writing policy briefs.
Briefing papers for this assignment must be written according to the following assignment criteria:
1. The submitted paper must be no more than two pages long—not even by one line. The references page does not count in that total. If the paper is any longer than two pages, or if it is significantly shorter than two pages, points will be deducted. You will need most of the two pages to provide sufficient information to inform the audience.
- Use relevant resources and references to address the public health issue related to your intervention and target population.
- The paper should have the following sections:
- A. The issue
- B. Background
- C. Current Status
- D. Key considerations
- E. Options
- F. Recommendations
- Conclude the paper with recommendations (section “F” mentioned in #3 above) that include your ideas for solutions. What would you do? Why? Provide evidential support for your rationale. (e.g., statistics, supporting research, peer-reviewed research articles. credible sources)
- Cite sources using footnotes (which do not count towards the 2-page limit).
- Refer to the grading rubric below for grading criteria.
- For further understanding, please see these example papers from
