The Planning Guide

Developing an Effective Planning Process: A Guide for Local MCH Programs

The purpose of this manual is to assist local public health agencies in conducting a needs-based, rational planning and resource allocation process. Although the processes described are generic to all planning efforts at the local level, the case examples are specific to Maternal and Child Health Programs that are required to conduct a formal needs assessment and planning process every five years in order to receive their annual block grant funds. 

Chapters All files are in pdf format. Some appendices have editable worksheets in MS Word format for your convenience.
I
Building a Constituency for Community Assessment and Data Based Planning: The Role of Coalitions and Collaboratives in the Development of an MCH Plan
II
Community Health Assessment: Identifying Maternal, Child Health Needs and Setting Priorities
III
Conducting a Formal Problem Analysis and Identifying Effective Interventions
IV
Developing Objectives, Performance Measures, and an Action Plan
V
Program Evaluation and Performance Monitoring
VI
Putting It All Together: Creating a Planning Document
VII
Available Tools for Public Health Core Data Functions
Appendices  
II-A
Public Health Indicators and Their Use
II-B
California County Data Resources on the Web
II-C
Tool for Prioritizing Health Indicators
(worksheet) (word)
II-D
Prioritizing Indicators: One County's Results
II-E
Criteria for Evaluation of Data Sources
II-F
Survey Development
II-G
An Introduction to Qualitative Method
II-H
Title V Indicator Template for Prenatal Care in the First Trimester
II-I
Facilitator’s Guide to Problem Prioritization
(worksheet) (word)
III-A
Overview of Confidence Intervals
III-B
Calculating and Interpreting Attributable Risk and Population Attributable Risk
III-C
Community Health and Social Services Resource Matrix
(worksheet) (word)
IV-A-1
Example Logic Model: Community Plan to Promote Breastfeeding
IV-A-2
Example Logic Model: Provider Education Program to Promote Breastfeeding
IV-B-1
Program Action Plan Matrix
IV-B-2
Program Action Plan Matrix: Definitions
IV-C
Program Timeline
V-A
Evaluation Design
V-B-1
Example: Logic Model Tool
(worksheet) (word)
V-B-2
How to Use a Logic Model: Step by Step
V-C
Data Collection Worksheet
(worksheet) (word)