Shared Planning and Strategic Plans
The Public Health Accreditation Board defines strategic planning as "a process for defining and determining an organization's roles, priorities, and direction" and serves as "a guide for making decisions on allocating resources and taking action to pursue strategies and priorities." Strategic plans are formal written documents developed by program staff and partners. Shared planning is informal communication and collaboration that promotes cross-sectoral action and goal setting among program staff and partners.
The goal is to have a dedicated strategic plan that specifically addresses how the LHD will address the intersection of suicide, overdose, and ACEs prevention and a shared plan for implementation. LHDs who are interested in addressing the intersection of suicide, overdose, and ACEs but are early in their efforts may not yet have the capacity to develop a formal strategic plan specific to this intersection work. For these teams, increasing capacity in this area may include working towards a shared vision and developing an early plan for implementation. For teams who feel ready to develop a formal strategic plan, consider NACCHO’s Strategic Planning Guide.
Look at the results of Q18-20 in your completed SPACECAT to understand and further develop your LHD’s capacity for shared planning and strategic plans.
Everyone, regardless of their role in the LHD, can contribute to the development of a strategic vision or plan. The Roles in Strategic Planning Worksheet is one way to begin thinking intentionally about where each team member can contribute. This worksheet can be used at the beginning of the process and throughout to ensure that all levels of the LHD are being represented and their voices heard. Encourage staff at all levels to provide input, formally or informally, through focus groups, surveys, and discussions with LHD leadership. Recognize and celebrate the role that each level of staff contributes. For example, incorporate the important observations and feedback of frontline staff as they often have the most direct contact with those who are most impacted by programs. Develop the process and outputs such that managers and supervisors can easily communicate updates to their staff. Continuously strive to keep your teams connected to the vision by welcoming and including information that might change the LHD’s readiness, staff’s buy-in, or the ability to prioritize intersection work.
Once the group has developed a shared vision, it will be time to begin the work. To maintain momentum, keep lines of communication open, and coordinate activities across teams and partners, consider developing a workgroup within the LHD who can manage this emerging area of work. This workgroup should include members from multiple departments who are (1) currently working on some of the activities identified in your crosswalk of other teams, (2) able to attend regularly scheduled meetings, and (3) committed to the shared vision of addressing the intersection of suicide, overdose, and ACEs. The workgroup can not only track community, LHD, and partner efforts but also seeks to understand how these efforts are being communicated, supported, and further developed. The workgroup may also play a role in seeking funding opportunities, developing partnerships, and informing the larger team of new data related to shared risk and protective factors.
- Developing a Local Health Department Strategic Plan: A How-To Guide (NACCHO)- A how-to guide, including templates and worksheets, for undertaking the strategic planning process. Aligned with PHAB's strategic planning requirements, this guide offers step-by-step instructions, important considerations, and modifiable tools and templates for use in any type of LHD.
- Templates for LHD Opioid Prevention & Response: A How-To Guide (NACCHO)- A reference document that supports local health departments as they plan for, implement, and evaluate their efforts using NACCHO’s Action Plan, Budget Plan, and Evaluation Plan Templates.
- Violence Prevention in Practice: Planning (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Resource guide and toolkit for implementing CDC’s technical packages for violence prevention. This toolkit includes information on strategic planning.
- Violence Prevention in Practice: Partnerships (Veto Violence, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) -Resource guide and toolkit for implementing CDC’s technical packages for violence prevention. This toolkit includes information on creating and sustaining partnerships.
- Strategic Planning Guide: Guidance and Resources to Assist State and Territorial Health Agencies in Developing a Strategic Plan (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials)- A guide to help public health agencies develop new- or refine existing- strategic plans.
- Cross-Sector Innovation Initiative: Community and Partner Engagement (Center for Sharing Public Health Services)- A report that describes grantee work in community and partner engagement as a part of the Cross-sector Innovation Initiative (CSII).
- Roadmap to Develop Shared Services Arrangements Between Local Health Departments and Health Centers (NACCHO and the Center for Sharing Public Health Services)- A "roadmap" that provides a framework for sharing agreements between local health departments and health centers.
- Guide for Developing Legal Documents Governing Shared Services Arrangements Between Local Health Departments and Health Centers (NACCHO and the Center for Sharing Public Health Services)—A toolkit that provides guidance for the development of legal documents governing shared services between local health departments and health centers.
- Local Health Department- Community Health Center Collaboration Toolkit (NACCHO and Altarum Institute)- A toolkit that provides tools designed and collected to support collaborations/partnerships between local health departments and community health centers.
- Collective Impact Forum (Collective Impact Forum)- A webpage about what collective impact entails and how collective impact achieves social change.
- National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Implementation Assessment Report (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)- A report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that outlines the national strategy for suicide prevention.
- Preventing Suicide: A Community Engagement Toolkit (World Health Organization)- A toolkit from the World Health Organization about engaging the community to create strategic plan for suicide prevention.
- Engaging People with Lived Experience: A Toolkit for Organizations (Suicide Prevention Resource Center)- A toolkit for engaging people with lived experience in the strategic planning of suicide prevention programs.
- Strategic Planning (Suicide Prevention Resource Center)- A web-based toolkit from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center about effective strategic planning for suicide prevention programs.
- Zero Suicide Community Implementation Toolkit (Zero Suicide)- A toolkit from Zero Suicide and St. Joseph's Healthcare London focused on community implementation and planning suicide prevention programs.
- Planning: Developing the Coalition’s Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies and Action Plans (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America National Coalition Institute)- A primer to serve as guidelines for coalitions planning and implementing initiatives to reduce substance use using the Strategic Prevention Framework.
- Strategic Planning Tools, Resources, and Considerations for Overdose Data to Action-Funded Jurisdictions (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials)- A resources that maps the tools introduced through strategic planning technical assistance provided to the Nebraska Dept. of Health and Human Services. Steps are outlined so that other OD2A-funded jurisdictions can learn and apply the resources to similar initiatives.
- Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector: Communities Informing Communities (Brandeis Opioid Policy Research Collaborative)- A web-based resource guide on assisting communities create comprehensive plans and strategies to address the opioid crisis.
- Engaging People Who Use Drugs in Prevention Efforts: Strategies for Reducing Stigma (Prevention Solutions @EDC)- A tool from Prevention Solutions to engage PWUD in the planning and implementation of overdose prevention programs.
- Making CLAS Happen, Chapter 2: Build Community Partnerships (MA DPH)- A chapter from a MA DPH toolkit that discusses strategies and practices for creating community partnerships.
- Opportunities for Collaborating with Medical Professionals to Prevent Opioid Misuse (PS@EDC)- A tool from Prevention Solutions that presents examples and resources for collaborating with medical professionals on a state- and local-level.
- Opportunities for Engaging Partners to Prevent Opioid Overdose-related Deaths (PS@EDC)- A tool from Prevention Solutions that presents novel ways to collaborate with different sectors on overdose prevention efforts.
- A Sustainability Planning Guide for Healthy Communities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)- A framework from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that outlines sustainability policy strategies and science-and-practice-based evidence in order to aid agencies in the development, implementation, and evaluation of their own sustainability plans.
- Essentials for Childhood (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)- A toolkit about creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children. Includes information about strategic planning for ACEs prevention programs.
- Child Abuse Prevention and Child Welfare: Collaborating for Creative Solutions (FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention)- A framework from FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention that provides guidance on developing collaborations
- Collaboration Toolkit (FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention)- A toolkit from FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention that provides tools and resources, categorized across ten elements.
This page is part of the SPACECAT Toolkit. It was last updated on September 22, 2022. To report broken links, please email [email protected].