Chapter 14
Program Planning for Success
Lecture Launcher
What makes a program a success?
Chapter Outline
I.Introduction
A.Program planning is the process of designing a program to meet a nutritional need or fill a gap in services.
B.The process of program evaluation is described, including why evaluation is important, who conducts the evaluation, how the findings are used, and how to prepare an evaluation report.
II.Factors that Trigger Program Planning
A.The decision to develop a nutrition program or modify an existing one is usually made in response to some background event.
B.Factors that trigger program planning include:
1.Results of the community needs assessment.
2.Mandate from an organization’s national office or from a federal agency.
3.Research findings.
4.Community leader or coalition.
5.Availability of funding for new programs.
6.Government policy.
C.Regardless of the impetus, the nutritionist considers developing a program when there is a nutritional or health problem in the community that has not been resolved adequately.
III.Steps in Program Planning
- The nutritionist should review his or her organization’s mission statement before developing or modifying a program.
- A mission statement is a broad declaration of the organization’s purpose and a guideline for future decisions.
- If the match between the organization’s mission and the program concept is good, then senior management will support the program.
- The program planning process consists of several steps.
A.Step 1: Review the Results of the Community Needs Assessment
1.The needs assessment provides information about the target population’s nutritional problem or need and it is the impetus for program planning.
2.When the assessment identifies a gap in services, a new program may be developed to fill the gap.
B.Step 2: Define the Program Goals and Objectives
1.Goals are broad statements of desired changes or outcomes.
2.Goals provide a general direction for the program.
3.Objectives are specific, measurable actions to be completed within a specified time frame.
4.Objectives have four components:
a.The action or activity to be undertaken.
b.The target population.
c.An indication of how success will be measured or evaluated.
d.The time frame in which the objective will be met.
5.There are three types of objectives.
a.Outcome objectives are measurable changes in a health or nutritional outcome, such as a decrease in blood cholesterol or a change in functional status.
b.Process objectives are measurable activities carried out by the nutritionist and other team members in implementing the program.
c.Process objectives specify the manner in which the outcome objectives will be achieved.
d.Structure objectives are measurable activities surrounding the budget, staffing patterns, management systems, use of the organization’s resources, and coordination of program activities.
e.The program goals and outcome objectives are the basis for determining whether the program was effective.
6.Case Study 1: Women and CHD Risk
C.Step 3: Develop a Program Plan
1.The program plan consists of:
a.A description of the proposed intervention.
b.The nutrition education component.
c.The marketing plan.
2.The program plan is usually developed after reviewing existing programs and talking to colleagues and other professionals who have worked with similar programs or with the target population.
a.Listservs are types of Internet mailing lists to which people subscribe.
b.They provide an easy way to network with colleagues and stay informed about new programs and services.
D.Step 4: Develop a Management System
1.Management refers to two types of structures needed to implement the program: personnel and data systems.
2.Personnel structure refers to the employees responsible for overseeing the program and determining whether it meets its objectives.
3.The structure of the data management system refers to the manner in which data about clients, their use of the program, and the outcome measures are recorded and analyzed.
4.An important part of program planning is calculating the management costs of the program including direct and indirect costs.
a.Direct costs include the salaries and wages of program personnel, materials needed, travel expenses, and equipment.
b.Indirect costs include office space rental, utilities, and janitorial services.
E.Step 5: Identify Funding Sources
1.Nutritionists in nonprofit organizations and government agencies face many challenges in securing funding for all aspects of a program.
2.The nutritionist may review the program elements and consider whether outside funding in the form of cash grants or in-kind contributions from partners can be found.
3.The nutritionist identifies the area where financial support is needed, reviews possible funding sources, and prepares and submits a grant application for funding.
F.Step 6: Implement the Program
1.The action phase of the program planning process is called implementation.
2.Implementing a program is challenging and glitches in program delivery are inevitable.
3.The key to successful implementation is to observe all aspects of program delivery and consider ways in which delivery can be improved.
G.Step 7: Evaluate Program Elements and Effectiveness
- Evaluation refers to the use of scientific methods to judge and improve the planning, monitoring, effectiveness, and efficiency of programs.
- The purpose of program evaluation is to gather information for making decisions about redistributing resources, changing program delivery, or continuing a program.
1.Why Evaluation Is Necessary. Evaluation is necessary to inform the community at large about a program’s success or failure. Evaluation can be used for different purposes:
a.To determine whether progress is being made towards meeting goals and if the goals are still appropriate.
b.To determine whether some elements of a program should be changed.
c.To identify ways in which interventions can be improved.
d.To pinpoint weaknesses in program content.
e.To meet certain accountability requirements of a funding agency or senior management.
f.To ensure that program resources are being used properly.
g.To assess cost-benefit factors.
h.To determine whether objectives have been met or whether priorities need to be changed.
2.How Evaluation Findings Are Used. Evaluation findings have many uses:
a.They may be used to influence an executive or politician who has the authority to distribute resources and shape public policy.
b.They may alert managers and policy makers to the need for expanding or refining programs.
c.Evaluation findings may be applied to an immediate problem, and used by managers who are focused on the problem, or they may be used to shape policies and services beyond the scope of the original problem.
3.Who Conducts the Evaluation? Evaluations may be conducted by program staff or outside consultants.
a.The evaluator is responsible for all aspects of the evaluation from negotiating the evaluation focus to collecting data and preparing the final report.
b.The evaluator must remain objective about the evaluation and its findings.
4.The Program Evaluation Process. The purpose and scope of an evaluation depend on the questions being asked about the program.
a.It may focus on one specific program element or it may be comprehensive and examine the design of the program, how it is delivered, and whether it is being used properly.
b.Evaluation occurs across all areas of program planning, from design to implementation.
c.The evaluation tools of the community needs assessment are the health risk appraisal, focus group discussions, screenings, interviews, and direct assessments of nutritional status.
5.Evaluation as a Planning Tool. During program planning, evaluation occurs at each step.
a.Formative Evaluation
1.Managers develop program goals and objectives to determine its impact and effectiveness.
2.They conduct formative evaluation to achieve a good fit between the program and the target population’s needs, to develop appropriate nutrition messages, and to design a marketing plan.
3Formative evaluation is the process of testing and assessing certain elements of a program before it is implemented fully.
b.Process Evaluation
1.Process evaluation is a measure of program activities or efforts – that is, how a program is implemented.
2.Process evaluation helps managers decide what services to provide, how to provide them, and for whom.
3.In process evaluation, the evaluator examines the target population to determine how they were attracted to the program and to what extent they participated.
c.Impact Evaluation
1.Impact evaluation is the process of determining whether the program’s methods and activities resulted in the desired immediate changes in the client.
2.Impact evaluation might include variables such as beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, decision-making skills, and self-efficacy.
d.Outcome Evaluation
1.Outcome evaluation is the process of measuring a program’s effectiveness in changing one or more aspects of nutritional or health status.
2.Outcome evaluation variables might include health status, food intake, morbidity, mortality, or other outcomes.
3.Outcome evaluations are challenging because of the difficulty of determining whether a particular effect was caused by the intervention and was not due to some extraneous factor.
4.Confounding factors might include unexpected events, such as a natural catastrophe, or certain characteristics of clients.
5.Outcome evaluation is designed to account for a program’s accomplishments and long-term effectiveness in terms of a health change in the target population.
6.Outcome evaluation measures can include percent body fat, calcium intake, stroke prevalence, blood pressure, or use of home food services, depending on the nature of the program.
e.Structure Evaluation. Structure evaluation refers to personnel and environmental factors related to program delivery, such as training of personnel or adequacy of the facility.
f.Fiscal or Efficiency Evaluation
1.Fiscal or efficiency evaluation is the process of determining a program’s benefits relative to its cost.
2.There are two types of efficiency evaluation, including cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.
3.A cost-benefit analysis estimates both the tangible and intangible benefits of a program and the direct and indirect costs of implementing the program and everything is translated into a common measure, usually a monetary unit.
4.The cost-effectiveness analysis relates the effectiveness of reaching the program’s goals to the monetary value of the resources going into the program.
5.Cost-effectiveness analysis can be used to determine which of two methods of intervention produces a desired outcome for less cost.
6.Communicating Evaluation Findings. Evaluation findings should be compiled into a final report which tends to have a particular organization:
a.Front cover
b.Summary that is a brief overview of the evaluation.
c.Background information which places the program in context and describes what the program was designed to do and how it began.
d.Description of the evaluation which states the purpose of the evaluation, including why it was conducted and what it was intended to accomplish.
e.Results which present the results of the outcome or process evaluation.
f.Discussion of results which includes the interpretation of the results and explores the reasons why a certain outcome was reached and how the program compares to similar programs.
g.Conclusions, recommendations, and options.
h.Once the report is written, you must decide how to best distribute it.
7.The Challenge of Multicultural Evaluation. Multiculturalism poses some unique and difficult problems for program evaluation.
a.The evaluator must strive to remain neutral in the face of competing minority interests.
b.The evaluator must search out and define the views and interests of the minority groups to ensure that their needs are being met.
c.The evaluator must be sensitive to the cultural differences that make implementing the evaluation difficult.
8.Spreading the Word about the Program’s Success. A good, effective nutrition program is not achieved by accident but by planning today to meet the needs of tomorrow.
IV.Entrepreneurship in Program Planning
A.Program planning requires a steady mix of creative juices and offers opportunities to learn new skills and to work with people in public relations, marketing, design, and communication.
B.The possibilities for being an entrepreneur in the area of program planning are boundless.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University