Explore the Health Issue and Set Priorities

STEPS
  1. Decide the objectives for this phase
    2.
  2. Explore the health issue with the core group
  3. Together with the core group, explore the health issues with the broader community
  4. Analyze the information
  5. Set priorities for action

STEP 1: Decide the objectives for this phase.

Prior to exploring the health issue with the core group, your team will need to determine the objectives of this exploration phase. It is not uncommon to have multiple objectives that correspond to the various actors and stakeholders interested in the project. For example, your objectives might be: By the end of this exploration phase, participants will have:

  • established quantitative and qualitative baselines to be able to measure change over the life of the project.
  • raised community awareness of, interest in, and commitment to the health issue.
  • increased core group members’ capacity to conduct and use participatory research.
Other examples of capacity building objectives for this phase might be:
  • Participants will be able to identify at least # sources of information on health status.
  • Participants will be able to interpret data on health status in meaningful ways (e.g., note trends over time, compare their community status with other communities, relate changes in status with possible or probable causes).
  • Participants will be able to discuss the health topic in a public forum.
  • Participants will be able to identify appropriate methods to collect quantitative and qualitative data.
  • Participants will demonstrate that they can collect information from others in the community.

Remember that your objectives should be directly related to the overall program goal. If that goal is “to reduce maternal mortality in participating communities,” then you will explore with the community maternal mortality and those factors which affect or influence maternal death. The area of investigation should be determined by the program goal. If you are entering a community without a predetermined goal, a health needs assessment will help to determine those areas of greater need as defined by health system and other relevant data, and as expressed by community members. The more focused the goal, the more likely it is that communities will be able to develop concrete objectives and an action plan to address the situation and to monitor and evaluate impact.