Develop a Goal and Objective(s) |
| Evaluate each objective to ensure that it is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, and Time-based): |
- Specific—An objective must be specific to be measurable. For instance, instead of defining an objective as “Educate the community,” a more specific objective would be “Train the community’s parents regarding the health effects of environmental lead and appropriate exposure prevention measures.”
- Measurable—It is easier to demonstrate progress toward objectives that are quantified. For example: “Train 80% of the community’s parents regarding the health effects of environmental lead and appropriate exposure prevention measures.”
- Agreed upon—Objectives should be developed through full involvement of the assessment team if the intent is to assure community commitment to accomplishing them.
- Realistic—“Realistic” is different from simply “feasible.” An objective is feasible if it is capable of being accomplished; it is realistic if it is feasible given time, resource, and technical considerations. For example, “Train 80% of the community’s parents regarding the health effects of environmental lead and appropriate exposure prevention measures” might be technically possible. But if it is not likely to happen in a timely fashion given current staffing limitations, it would not be considered realistic.
- Time-based—Target dates increase motivation, commitment, and action. “Within 12 months, train 80% of the community’s parents regarding the health effects of environmental lead and appropriate exposure prevention measures” is more likely to be achieved than an objective without a target date. *adapted from NACCHO’s Partnerships for Environmental Education.
|
|
|
|
Identify Contributing Factors |
| Refer to the framework developed in Task 7 in which the team identified exposure factors, environmental agents/conditions, contributing factors and behaviors, and public health protection factors for the issues of concern. |
|
|
|
Identify Possible Interventions |
| Identify applicable potential interventions as well as those already in place that should be maintained or enhanced. |
| There are three main types of interventions (Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 1995): |
- Individual-based interventions—These lead to changes in individuals, typically through direct service to clients or residents.
- Community-based interventions—These create changes in populations (e.g., immunizing all children in the community).
- System-based interventions—These create changes in organizations, policies, laws, and structures.
In the context of a community-based environmental health assessment, community-based or system-based interventions are likely the most appropriate options. |
|
|
|
Identify Community Assets |
| These are needed to help implement each proposed intervention. Examples include educational organizations and schools that can disseminate relevant information to parents. Other assets include resources available at the state and federal levels, such as educational materials or grant funds available through the state health agency, or resources provided from national organizations. Review the community asset work completed in Task 1 for ideas. |
|
Asset mapping materials |
|
http://outreach.missouri.edu/about/fy00-03/assetmapping.htm http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/publications/community/mcc.html |
|
|
|
Identify Potential Barriers |
| Review work completed in Task 2 (identifying and characterizing the community) to identify conditions or aspects of the community that may have implications for implementation of the intervention. Language barriers, for example, may require the dissemination of educational materials in more than one language. Constraints associated with the broad scientific, legal, economic, social, and political systems in the community, as identified in Tasks 9 and 11, may also present barriers to implementing specific interventions or activities. |
|
|
|
Identify Potential Partners |
| The work completed in Tasks 1 and 2 (determine community capacity and identify and characterize the community) on compiling assets within the community should help in identifying appropriate parties to assume/share responsibility for undertaking or enhancing the activity. Consider health agency staff, other local agencies, community members, academic institutions, and other community organizations. |
|
|
|
Determine Measures of Success |
| Ultimately, achievement of the objectives and goals will verify “success.” Additional events or data points to indicate that the issue is being effectively addressed can also be identified. |
|
|
|
|
| Listen as Jon Schwartz discusses how many issues should be addressed by PACE EH. |
| Local variability makes it difficult to provide guidance on action planning. It is therefore the least predictable task in the PACE EH process. Nevertheless, PACE EH site experiences suggest two factors that may affect the success of an action plan: (1) the relative duration of the plan and (2) the stage(s) at which outcomes will be measured. The most successful plans offer both long- and short-term activities and measure outcomes periodically throughout the life span of the plan. |
| One coordinator noted that the ideal action plan would provide the assessment team with a method for long-range environmental health planning and assessment, but provide enough positive feedback to ensure the team can celebrate small successes along the way. By way of illustration, one PACE EH site assessment team set up an action plan goal to “reduce asthma hospitalization by 10% by the end of 2003.” The long-range goal, however, was achieved by specific smaller-scale activities beginning in the summer of 1999, such as convening a task force and conducting relevant local workshops. These activities provide concrete action that can be individually lauded and help monitor progress toward the ultimate goal. |
Questions to consider:
What are the elements of a successful PACE EH action plan?
Why is it important to create action plans that balance short- and long-term goals in PACE EH action planning? |
| |
|
|
|
