Chapter 2 Lecture

Chapter 2:
Starting the
Planning
Process

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 Introduction to Planning

• Planning a health promotion program is a multistep

process
• “To plan is to engage in a process or a procedure to
develop a method of achieving an end” (Minelli &
Breckon, 2009, p. 137).
• Because of the variety of settings and resources, the
planning process doesn’t always start the same way.
• Sometimes, there are obvious needs.
• A program that has been successful in the past may
need to be reworked.
• Some have the autonomy and authority to start.
• Planners often need to gain support of key people for
the program.
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 Need for Creating a Rationale to Gain the
Support of Decision Makers – 1
• Decision makers: those who provide and
allocate the necessary resource and support
• Resources: money that can be turned into
staff, supplies, and so on
• Support: policies, value, decision making

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 Need for Creating a Rationale to Gain the
Support of Decision Makers – 2
• Gaining support
• Sometimes, the idea for a program comes from the
top.
• This makes it easier to get support.
• Often, it comes from someone other than one who is
a part of the top level of the community (i.e., an
employee, parent, health educator, or member of the
population).
• They will need help selling the idea to those at the top.
• Most planners will need to create a rationale
(written proposal) to sell the program.

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 Measuring Decision Makers’ Support for
Health Promotion
• Leading by Example (LBE) Instrument
• A valid instrument to assess leadership support for
health promotion programs in work settings
• Created by Della, DeJoy, Goetzel, Ozminkowski, and
Wilson (2008)
• Four-factor scale (Della et al., 2010)
1. Business assignment with health promotion
objectives
2. Awareness of the economics of health and worker
productivity
3. Worksite support for health promotion
4. Leadership support for health promotion

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 Steps in Creating a Program Rationale – 1

1. Identify appropriate
background information
2. Title the rationale
3. Write the content of the
rationale
4. List the references used
to create the rationale

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 Steps in Creating a Program Rationale – 2

• Gaining support is an important process that

should not be taken lightly.
• You need to have a sound rationale before
making an appeal to the decision makers.
• There is no formula for writing the rationale,
but there are suggested starting points.
• A logical format for a rationale is presented as
the inverted triangle; triangle is symbolic of
the design going from global terms to a
focused solution.

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 Creating a Rationale

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 Step 1: Identify Appropriate Background
Information – 1
• The types of information and data that are useful in writing a
rationale include those that:
• Express the needs and wants of the priority population
• Describe the status of the health problem(s) within a given
population
• Show how the potential outcomes of the proposed program
align with what the decision makers feel is important
• Show compatibility with the health plan of a state or the
nation
• Provide evidence that the proposed program will make a
difference
• Show how the proposed program will protect and preserve
the single biggest asset of most organizations—the people

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 Step 1: Identify Appropriate Background
Information – 2
• Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)
• Benefit received from the dollars invested in the
program
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Measures the costs of a program versus the financial
return realized by that program
• A helpful tool for calculating the financial burden of
chronic diseases has been the Chronic Disease Cost
Calculator Version 2
• Created by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) and RTI International

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 Return on Investment

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 Step 2: Title the Rationale

• Titles can be quite simple:

• “A Rationale for ________ : A Program to
Enhance the Health of ________.”
• Immediately following the title should be a listing
of who contributed to the authorship of the
rationale.

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 Step 3: Write the Content of the
Rationale – 1
• Identify the health problem from a global
perspective.
• Show the relationship of the local health
problem to the bigger problem.
• Identify the health problem that is the focus of
the rationale.
• This is called a problem statement.
• The statement should also include why it is a
problem and why it should be dealt with.
• Use social math to help highlight economic
impact.
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 Step 3: Write the Content of the
Rationale – 2
• Propose a solution to the problem.
• Include the name and purpose of the
proposed health promotion program, and a
general overview of what the program may
include.
• State why the program will be successful.
• Use results of evidence-based practice to
support the rationale.

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 Step 4: List the References Used to Create
the Rationale
• The final step in creating a rationale is to include
a list of the references used in preparing the
rationale.
• Having a reference list shows decision
makers that you studied the available
information before presenting your idea.
• Be consistent with formatting references.
• Examples use APA format.

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 The Planning Committee – 1

• The number of people involved depends

on resources and circumstances of the
particular situation.
• Identifying individuals who would be willing to
serve as members becomes one of the
planner’s first tasks.
• The number of individuals on a planning
committee can differ depending on the setting
for the program and the size of the priority
population.
• There is no ideal size.

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 The Planning Committee – 2

• When composing a planning committee, it is also a

good time to consider the concept of partnering.
• Partnering can be defined as the association of two or
more entities working together on a project of common
interest.
• In looking for partners, planners should consider these
questions:
1. Who is also interested in meeting the needs of the priority
population?
2. Who also sees the unmet need of a priority population as
a problem?
3. Who has unused resources that could help solve a
problem?
4. Who would benefit from being your partner?

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 Guidelines for Creating a Planning
Committee – 1
1. The committee should be composed of
individuals who represent a variety of
subgroups within the priority population.
2. If the program that is being planned deals with
a specific health risk or problem, it would be
important that someone with that health risk
(e.g., smoker) or problem (e.g., diabetes) be
included on the planning committee.
3. The committee should be composed of
individuals willing to serve who are interested in
seeing the program succeed.

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 Guidelines for Creating a Planning
Committee – 2
4. Include someone who has a key role in the
organization sponsoring the program.
5. The committee should include representatives
of other stakeholders (any person or
organization with a vested interest in a
program) not represented in the priority
population.
6. Regularly evaluate membership to ensure
fulfillment of goals and objectives.

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 Guidelines for Creating a Planning
Committee – 3
7. If the planning committee will be in place for a
long period of time, new individuals should be
added periodically to generate new ideas and
enthusiasm.
8. Be aware of “politics.”
9. Make sure the committee is large enough to
accomplish work, but small enough to be able
to make decisions and reach consensus.
10.In some situations, there might be a need for
multiple layers of planning committees.

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 Makeup of a Solid Planning/Steering
Committee

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 Choosing Members of a Planning
Committee
• Five common techniques for choosing
members are:
1. Asking for volunteers
2. Holding an election
3. Inviting/recruiting people to serve
4. Having members formally appointed by a
governing group or individual
5. Having an application process then selecting
those with the most desirable
characteristics.
• Don’t forget to designate a committee leader.
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 Parameters for Planning – 1

• Committee members must identify the planning

parameters within which they will work.
• There are seven questions to which committee members
should have answers before they become too deeply
involved in the planning process.
1. What is the decision makers’ philosophical
perspective on health promotion programs?
2. What type of commitment to the program are
decision makers willing to make? Are they interested
in the program becoming institutionalized?
3. What type of financial support are decision makers
willing to provide?

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 Parameters for Planning – 2

4. Are decision makers willing to consider changing the

organizational culture?
5. Will all individuals in the priority population have an
opportunity to take advantage of the program, or will
it be available to only certain subgroups?
6. What type of committee will the planning committee
be? Will it be a permanent or a temporary (ad hoc)
committee?
7. What is the authority of the planning committee?

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