Facilitating Information Use by Policy

Makers and Program Managers

 Learning Objectives
By the end of the session, participants will be able
to:
• List barriers and challenges to data use in
decision making
• Apply tools for fostering information use
• Develop an M&E dissemination and use plan
 What is Information Use?
Information use is defined as:

“Decision makers and stakeholders

explicitly consider information in one or
more steps in the process of
policymaking, program planning and
management, or service provision,
even if the final decision or actions are
not based on that information.”
Conceptual Framework for Evidence-based
Decision Making
What Determines Utilization of SI for
Decision Making?

CULTURE
SYSTEMS TECHNICAL
APPOACH APPOACH

INDIVIDUAL
POLITICS SOCIETY
BEHAVIOR
Understanding Decision Making

What
W
? information? ho
hy el
W se
?
Decision
Decisions
makers

How?
Core Tools for Fostering Information Use
Stakeholder Engagement •Identifies stakeholders;
•Defines roles & resources
•Creates engagement plan
•Tracks engagement
Assessment of Data Use •Identifies existing barriers to data
Constraints use & best practices
•Helps prioritize approaches to
address barriers
Decision Calendar •Identifies key policy/program
decisions that must be made
•Identifies relevant information
sources to support decisions
Core Tools for Fostering Information Use
Cont’d
Information Use Mapping •Documents information flow, gaps &
deficiencies
•Helps define actions needed to
improve information system
PRISM •Assess RHIS performance
•Identify technical, behavioral &
organization factors affecting RHIS
performance
•Aid in design & prioritization of
intervention to improve RHIS
performance
 Stakeholder Identification
• Who needs to use the data? What questions are they
seeking to answer?
• Who has influence & resources to help this project?
• Who will be directly or indirectly affected by the outcome of
this initiative?
• Who will support our plan? Who will oppose it? Why? How
do we deal with it?
• What roles can all these people contribute to the process?
• How can we best leverage their insights or assuage their
objections?
 Stakeholder Engagement Tips
• Ownership fosters use
• Stakeholder engagement improves data
• Stakeholders should represent diverse
perspectives
• Engage stakeholders from project design
through follow-up
 Stakeholder Engagement Tips Cont’d

• Prepare for unintended effects of stakeholder

engagement
• The greater the number of stakeholders, the
more complex is project design
• A large number of stakeholders comes with
excessive expectations
 Assessment of Data Use Constraints
• Identify existing barriers and constraints to data use
• Identify best practices in data use, so these practices can be
applied elsewhere
• Design and prioritize approaches for addressing the barriers
and constraints
• Typically involves interviews of 20-25 key informants
• Key informant list should include policy makers
 Decision Calendar
• Identifies and documents key policy/program decisions that
must be made
• Identifies the information needed to support those decisions
• Identifies existing data resources/new ways to use information
to support evidence-based decision making
• Provides a timeline for monitoring progress in the decision-
making process
• Provides a systematic way of identifying data use
• Should be routinely updated
M&E DISSEMINATION & USE PLAN
 Building Blocks/Elements of an Effective
Dissemination & Use Plan
• Goal
• Objectives
• Users
• Content
• Source(s)
• Medium
• Success
• Access
• Barriers
Elements of an Effective Dissemination & Use
Plan Cont’d
 Goals: Determine goals of your dissemination effort for your
program.

 Objectives: Associate each goal with one or more objectives that

clarifies what you are trying to accomplish through your
dissemination activities

 Users: Describe the scope and characteristics of the ‘potential users’

to be reached by your dissemination activities

 Content: Identify the basic elements of the projected content you

have to disseminate to each of the potential user groups identified.
 Elements of an Effective Dissemination & Use
Plan Cont’d
 Sources: Identify the primary source(s) that each potential user group
most respects as an information source. Forge partnership with the source
in your dissemination efforts

 Medium: Describe the medium or media through which the content of

your message can best be delivered and identify capabilities and resources
required

 Success: Describe how you will know if your dissemination activities have
been successful. If data is to be gathered, describe how, when, and who
will do it
 Elements of an Effective Dissemination & Use
Plan Cont’d
 Access: Describe how you will promote access to your
information and how to archive it for later use as needed
 Availability: Identify the strategies for promoting
awareness of the availability of your M&E-based
information plus alternative available formats.

 Barriers: Identify potential barriers that may interfere with

the targeted users’ access or utilization of your information
and develop actions to reduce the barriers
 Dissemination and Use Plan
 Therefore, there is a need to ask:

– Who are the potential users of the findings? (as early

as the project planning stage)

– Which particular findings will be of most interest to

each potential user group?

– What are the best media channels to reach each

potential user group? (Fisher et al 2002)
 Increasing Information Use : Routine
Monitoring

• Provide timely reports

• Involve program staff in definition of indicators
and in data collection
• Maintain high face validity of data
• Demonstrate use of information
• Repeat measures on regular basis
• Mandate performance monitoring
 Increasing Information Use: Adhoc
Evaluations

• Develop realistic recommendations for program

improvement
• Explore multiple uses of study data
• Continuously remind decision makers of findings &
recommendations
• Share findings & recommendations with broad
audiences
• Assign evaluation staff to assist in implementing
recommendations
 Within Projects
• M&E staff must be able to communicate with
program managers and implementers
• Explain indicators
– design
– interpretation
– significance
– meaning of changes in value
• Explain data
– collection processes
– calculation processes
– quality
 Six Steps to Developing an
Effective Presentation

Source: Population Reference Bureau

(www.prb.org)
 Step 1: List Your Objectives
• Why do you want to give this presentation
• What do you want to gain?
• How will you know if you have succeeded?
 Step 2: Focus on The Audience
• Focus on what your audience needs to know -
not what you know
• Consider audience motivation
• Decide what you want the audience to do as a
result of the presentation (dissemination)
 Step2: Define Your Audience
• What kind of audience?
Captives

Pragmatists

Socially motivated

Committed
 Step3: Determine the Message

• List the 1-3 key points first

• Assess audience’s technical level
• Determine amount of time for delivery
 Step 4: Organize Your Information
• Create an outline that matches your objectives

• Presenting a persuasive message

 Attention: Seize attention

 Need: State need or problem

 Satisfaction: Present solution

 Visualization: Draw picture of future

 Action: Mover to positive action

• Make the outline clear in your presentation

Step 5: Design The “Look” Of Your Presentation

• Remember the KISS Rule

Key points only

One idea per overhead

Short words, short phrases

Strong statements: active voice

Round off numbers

 Step 6: Create And Assemble Visuals

 Decide the best way to display the information

 Check for consistency

 Aim for a balance

 Keep time frame in mind

 Final summary slide: what do you want your audience to

remember?
 FINALLY REMEMBER…...

• An effective communication plan relies on:

 Audience-centered approach

 Ongoing communication activities to the target audiences

 Disseminating information around a big event or taking

advantage of attention-generating events (HIV/AIDS day,
community events)
 FINALLY REMEMBER……CONT.

• To communicate meaningfully apply/use:

Selective use of information

Appropriate context for information

Results and program impact

Success story / lessons learned

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Decisions, recommendations, or options available

 Message Characteristics Influencing Policy
Makers’ Decisions
• Needs to be simple
• Needs to be timely/salient
• Needs to be compelling/significant
• Needs to be consistent with policy makers
and/or constituents values
 Summary
• The ultimate goal of M&E efforts is to create
information that is actually used
• To be useful and used, data initiatives must
reflect the needs/values of relevant stakeholders
• M&E findings should be linked with decisions
that could be influenced by those findings
• Information must be communicated effectively
and in a timely manner in order to be useful
 References

• Patton, Michael Quinn. 1997. Utilization-Focused

Evaluation. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
• MEASURE Evaluation. No date. Data Demand and
Information Use in the Health Sector. Chapel Hill,
NC: Carolina Population Center.