Why Plan?

Community health problems are generally categorized as: health status problems health resources and health related problems These are conditions or situations that intervene with the communitys capability to attain wellness. The nurse provides a mechanism in terms of organizational structure, resources and activities in order to achieve the ultimate goal to raise the level of health of the population. Planning through analysis of the situation, setting of priorities, goals, and objectives, and program/ project formulation, provide he means to decision making based on efficiency and effectiveness. It prevents waste of resources in coping with technical advances, consumer demands and increasing organizational complexity. Good planning enables nurses to monitor and evaluate programs based on set indicators and allows for necessary decisions or actions when needed.

C. Identifying Intervention Activities How do we get there?, determines the strategies and the activities that the nurse sets to achieve the goals and objectives, the ways change will be effected, and the ways the problem cycle will be broken. Strategies should be determined Strategies are approaches or techniques to facilitate accomplishment of set objectives and targets. Strategies should take advantage of the strengths and offset the weaknesses of the program. For example, a strong immunization program can be used as a venue for other health services such as provision of micronutrients for children or tetanus toxoid immunization for women. Activities should be defined Activities are specific and concrete steps and actions to accomplish the set objectives and operational targets. Examples of Activities in Health/ Nutrition Status Problems: a. b. c. d. Weighing of children 0 to 6 years old Giving food supplementation to 3rd degree malnourished children Giving micronutrient supplementation to high risk children Home visits to monitor intake of food supplements

e. Nutrition education among pregnant and lactating mothers Developing Workplans Workplan is a list of all planned activities, specifying the dates when the activities will be accomplished, how they should be accomplished, the required resources and the persons or institutions responsible for carrying out the activities. A workplan is essential for effective and efficient program implementation. Steps in developing a workplan are: 1. Enumerate the detailed activities for each measure requirement 2. Determine the schedule of each activity and the person or office responsible to implement the said activity 3. Determine the resource requirements of each activity estimate the cost and identify the funding source; and 4. Determine the set of activities, schedule, locus of responsibility and resource requirements.