This document discusses health program planning and implementation. It defines planning versus health planning, with health planning being the process of defining community health problems, needs, resources, goals, and actions. The scopes of planning include target populations and geographical areas. Health planning can be comprehensive, including environmental, curative, promotive, preventive and rehabilitative healthcare. Good planning provides a clear vision, goals and objectives. Planning occurs at all levels and requires participation. The six steps of planning are situational analysis, problem selection, objective setting, obstacle identification, strategy design, and writing the plan. Strategic planning looks further out while tactical planning focuses on current operations.

1. HEALTH PROGRAM
PLANNING AND
IMPLEMENTATION
GRACE V. MALAYAN, MD, MHA, FPPS, FPAPP

2. PROBLEMS

3. OBJECTIVES
• To differentiate planning vs health planning
• To the scopes of health planning
• To discuss steps in health program planning and
implementation

4. PLANNING VS HEALTH PLANNING
• Planning – is a combination of compiling and analyzing,
information dreaming up ideas, using logic and
imagination and judgement in order to come to a decision
about what should be done

5. • Health planning – is the process of defining community
health problems, identifying needs and resources,
establishing priority goals, and setting out the
administrative action needed to reach those goals

7. SCOPE OF PLANNING
• 1. What is the target population/client?
• Population
• Institution
• Programme
• What is the plan intends to address should be clearly
defined?

8. • 2. What is the target geographical region or area?
• Village
• District
• Barangay
• Zone/Region

9. • At what level are you planning? Has to be clearly
defined.
• For what level of comprehensive service should be
planned?

10. DEGREE OF COMPREHENSIVENESS
• Environmental Determinants
• Diet-sanitary preparation of food
• Avoidance of harmful life style
• Sanitary housing condition
• Unpolluted physical environment
• Freedom from stress

11. • Comprehensive Health Care
• Curative
• Promotive
• Preventive
• Rehabilitative Health Care

12. FEATURES OF GOOD PLANNING
• 1. A good plan should give
• Clear vision/mission, goal and objectives
• A clear picture of the tasks to be accomplished
• The resources needed to accomplish the task (*Human
resources, material, money, time, space and
information)

13. • 2. Planning takes place at all levels
• At any level in health system
• It is continuous
• It is cyclic/spiral process

14. • It can be applied to a large program at national level
ex. Dengue Control Program (4 o’clock habit)
• It can be applied to small one like barangay level ex.
Construction of community health post

15. • 3. It should be a collective undertaking
• It requires participation of professionals,
community/NGOs, Government/Party

16. TYPES OF PLANNING
• 1. Strategic planning – often as alocative planning ---
normally 5 years or more
• 2. Tactical/operational planning – may be referred to as
activity planning, covers a short period ( less than a year)

17. STRATEGIC PLANNING
• The process of determining what an organization intends
to be in the future and how will it get there.
• It is finding the best future for your organization and the
best path to reach that destination.

19. TACTICAL/OPERATIONAL PLANNING
• Is a short range planning that emphasizes the current
operations of various parts of the organization

20. SIX STEPS IN PLANNING
• 1. Situational analysis
• 2. Analyzing and selecting critical (priority) problems
• 3. Setting objectives and targets
• 4. Identifying potential obstacles
• 5. Designing the strategies
• 6. Writing up the plan

21. STEP 1. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
• Review and describe organizational characteristics
• Consider National Health policies and programmes
• Analyze the organizational structure and functions of the health services
• Identify limitations/bottlenecks in the organization structure
• Review past implementation experience
• Analyze the health condition (magnitude)
• Study the size, composition and distribution of the population
• Collect information about the resources

22. STEP 2. SELECTING CRITICAL PROBLEM (PRIORITY)
• Analyze problems and constraints
• Define the problem

23. What exist now? What should be the ideal
programme? Ideal situation
Problem Gap
50% vaccination coverage 80% coverage (EPI) 30%

24. CRITERIA IN SELECTING A PRIORITY PROBLEM
• Does the problem
• 1. Affect large number of people?
• 2. Cause high infant mortality?
• 3. Affect mental health?
• 4. Affect children and young persons?
• 5. Cause chronic conditions and handicap?
• 6. Affect socio-economic development?
• 7. Cause worry to the community?

25. • Based on the previous question, the criteria can be the
• Magnitude of the problem
• Degree of severity
• Feasibility ? – effectiveness, cost and social
acceptability
• Community concern
• Government concern and social acceptability

26. STEP 3. SETTING OBJECTIVE/TARGET
• Objectives are desired end states (outcomes) of a
programme
• If the programme is made to have an objective and target
the is must be relevant (fits health policy).

27. • The objective should be SMART
• S=specific
• M=measurable
• A=Achievable
• R=Realistic
• T=Time bound

28. STEP 4. IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL OBSTACLES
• Why objectives could not be attained?
• Which are the limitations and obstacles?

29. •
POSSIBLE OBSTACLES
People Lack of interest
No skilled personnel
Equipment Not available
Expensive
Money No budget
Time People may not have time
Environmental Geographical problems
Climate Type of diseases
Technical Electricity
Social factors Traditions may operate against plan

30. EXAMPLE ANALYSIS OF OBSTACLES

31. STEP 5 DESIGNING STRATEGIES
1. Outline potential strategies this include-
• Technology to be applied
• Procedure to be used
• Defining the role of the communities and other
relevant sectors

32. • 2. Design the details of selected strategy
• 3. Determine resources required in terms of proposed
strategy like time, staff, facilities and materials , money
• 4. Estimate strategy costs and assess adequacy

33. STEP 6 WRITING UP THE PLAN
• The purpose of the writing the plan

34. THE SEVEN GUIDELINE WORDS
• 1. Why are we doing this? – Rationale /problem situation
• 2. What is to be done? –The objectives and the targets are clearly stated
• 3. How will it be done? – Strategies of the activities
• 4. Who will do it? – Types and quantity of human power, equipment required,
cost state
• 5. What are the things needed?
• 5. Where will the work be done? – Area/village
• 6. When will the work be done?- Schedule of activities
• 7. By whom and how will it be controlled? – Allocate responsibilities for
activities and information to be collected for monitoring

39. REFERENCES
• 1. Jira, C. et al.Health planning and management for health workers. Ethiopia Public Health Training
Initiative. November 2004
• 2. American Journal of Public Health January 2014
• 3. Health Planning and Development by Jones 2009