| Course | HLTH 6031 Leadership and Advocacy in Health Education |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 3 |
| Paper type | Issue brief |
| Length | About 600 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | MS in Health Education and Promotion |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 6031 Week 3
Issue Brief for the Harbor County Transit District Board: Put a Route 22 Extension Into the Eastgate Clinic Corridor in the Staff Draft of the 2027 Service Plan
Student Name
Walden University
HLTH 6031: Leadership and Advocacy in Health Education
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Issue Brief for the Harbor County Transit District Board: Put a Route 22 Extension Into the Eastgate Clinic Corridor in the Staff Draft of the 2027 Service Plan
The Issue in One Sentence
The Harbor County Transit District board should direct staff to include an extension of Route 22 into the Eastgate corridor, with six new stops and hourly weekday service across a 12-hour day, in the draft 2027 annual service plan that staff prepare in February 2027.
Background
The Eastgate corridor holds four services used mainly by people without cars: a federally qualified health center, a dialysis unit, a WIC office and a senior center. None is served by transit. Route 22's closest stop lies 1.4 miles off, reached only by a road with no sidewalk. A similar request in 2024 failed because it reached the board at the June public hearing, after staff and the planning committee had already settled the plan; this brief is timed for the staff draft stage instead.
Evidence
1. Missed care in the corridor. In the last 12 months, 312 visits at the health center were missed, by front desk count, because patients reported having no ride. The dialysis unit reports that 41 of its patients depend on rides from others for treatments three times a week. These are the organizations' own counts.
2. The national pattern. The national picture comes from National Health Interview Survey data: 5.8 million people delayed care in 2017 because no transportation was available, and the odds ran higher below the poverty line, among Medicaid recipients and for people with functional limitations (Wolfe et al., 2020).
3. Who is affected. Syed et al. (2013) synthesized 61 U.S. studies and judged transportation an important obstacle to care, especially for patients with little income or no coverage, with missed appointments and delayed care as the result.
4. What existing programs cover. Federal rules require each state Medicaid program to ensure necessary transportation to and from providers for beneficiaries (42 C.F.R. § 431.53). That benefit helps enrolled Medicaid patients with scheduled medical visits but does not cover uninsured or privately insured residents, WIC visits or trips to the senior center.
Options
Option A: Extend Route 22
Six new stops looping through the corridor, adding about 3,100 annual revenue hours. At the district's budgeted operating cost of about $128 per revenue hour, a figure used here as a composite estimate, the extension would cost about $397,000 a year. It serves all four sites and all riders.
Option B: Add an On-Demand Microtransit Zone
A van service booked by phone or app within a zone covering the corridor and the nearest Route 22 stop. Lower fixed cost but higher cost per trip at low volumes, and booking may be harder for older riders.
Option C: Rely on Medicaid Transportation
Promote the existing Medicaid transportation benefit to eligible patients. No cost to the district, but it reaches only Medicaid enrollees making medical trips.
Recommendation
Option A, because no other option serves every user of the four sites, and its cost can be weighed against the district's own service standards in the normal planning cycle. If staff judge that ridership would fall below the district's minimum, Option B should be piloted for one year as a fallback, with ridership reported to the board.
The Change in Plain Terms
The board would add one line to its direction to staff for the 2027 service plan: "Evaluate and include an extension of Route 22 to serve the Eastgate corridor, with stops at the health center, dialysis unit, WIC office and senior center, and report estimated ridership and cost."
References
Assurance of transportation, 42 C.F.R. § 431.53 (2026).
Syed, S. T., Gerber, B. S., & Sharp, L. K. (2013). Traveling towards disease: Transportation barriers to health care access. Journal of Community Health, 38(5), 976-993. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9681-1
Wolfe, M. K., McDonald, N. C., & Holmes, G. M. (2020). Transportation barriers to health care in the United States: Findings from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997-2017. American Journal of Public Health, 110(6), 815-822. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305579
Reading the HLTH 6031 Week 3 instructions
Week 3 asks for a short issue brief that turns a broad health problem into a specific decision. The prompt expects the opening sentence to name the body that can decide, the change it would make and, ideally, the timing. Background should stop as soon as the reader knows enough to follow the evidence. Evidence is limited to a few findings, each chosen because it bears on the decision, with citations. Instructors usually ask for two or three options with their trade-offs and a clear recommendation. Many prompts also require the change itself to be written in plain terms, as it would appear in a motion or directive. The brief should fit two or three pages and be readable in fifteen minutes. Sources include peer-reviewed studies, federal rules and local data where available. A brief that describes the problem well but never names who should do what misses the assignment.
How this HLTH 6031 Week 3 example is built
The brief's first section is a single sentence containing the board, the extension, its stops and hours, and the February staff draft. Background describes the four corridor services, the 1.4-mile gap and the timing failure of 2024. Four numbered findings cover local missed appointments and dialysis patients, the national survey count and who is affected, the review of 61 studies and the scope of the Medicaid transportation rule. Options A, B and C each get a short paragraph with cost, reach and limits; the route extension's cost comes from about 3,100 added revenue hours at a composite hourly operating cost. The recommendation favors the extension and names microtransit as a fallback if ridership estimates fall short. A final section gives the one-line direction the board would adopt.
HLTH 6031 Week 3 rubric: what earns full marks
Grading of an issue brief here weighs the decision statement, relevance of evidence, options, recommendation and concision. The decision statement is often the deciding criterion: an opening that names only a problem, rather than a body and an action, loses heavily. Evidence earns credit when every finding bears on the decision and carries a source; interesting but irrelevant statistics count against the brief. Options should be realistic and compared on similar terms. A recommendation has to grow out of the options compared and include a fallback where appropriate. Writing the change in plain terms shows that the student understands how decisions are actually recorded. Concision and headings are part of the grade. APA mechanics include a federal regulation and two journal articles.
HLTH 6031 Week 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Issue briefs most often go wrong by staying at the level of the problem: "the county has a transportation problem." Graders want the decision. Another frequent problem is background that runs for a page before any evidence appears. Students also list options that are not real alternatives, such as "do nothing" without its consequences. Before submitting, keep rewriting your first sentence until the deciding body, the change and the timing all appear. Cut background to two short paragraphs. Keep only findings that bear on the decision. Give each option its cost or burden and its reach. Recommend one, name a fallback and write the change as it would read in a motion. A custom brief can narrow a different problem, such as food access near a clinic or heat exposure at bus stops, to a decision a named body can make.
Get a HLTH 6031 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 3 prompt and your section's rubric, naming the problem it assigns. The brief you receive is narrowed to one decision, with a named body and an instrument attached. There is no charge the first time and it arrives within 24 to 48 hours. Local data your employer holds stays with your employer.
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HLTH 6031 Week 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HLTH 6031 Week 3 sample paper?
The full Week 3 issue brief turning transportation barriers into one transit board decision, with four findings, three options and three references, is posted here.
What decision does the HLTH 6031 Week 3 example ask for?
That the county transit board direct staff to include a Route 22 extension into the Eastgate clinic corridor in the February draft of the 2027 service plan.
How many people delay care because of transportation?
An analysis of national survey data found 5.8 million people in the United States delayed medical care in 2017 because they lacked transportation.
Why is Medicaid transportation not enough?
Federal rules require state Medicaid programs to ensure transportation to providers for enrollees, but uninsured patients, WIC families and senior center members are left out.
How much would the route extension cost?
About $397,000 a year, based on roughly 3,100 added revenue hours at a composite operating cost of about $128 per hour.