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| The Pennsylvania Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factor Project |
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The Health Program Planning Process For Coalitions and Clinics |
This section of the website is designed to provide program planning information specific to The Pennsylvania Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factor Project. Please contact us if you have any questions about developing your program.
Do you have any questions or concerns about developing your program? Contact us.
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Assess Community
A Note on Community Assessment for the PA-BCERF project
The focus of the PA-BCERF project is to increase healthy behaviors, improve community health and clarify for the public what is currently known, through reliable cancer research, about environmental risk factors. Recommended behavior changes that may reduce breast cancer risk are identified on the Education Tip Sheets being used as health education materials for PA-BCERF related activities. The community assessment described in this section and the assessment tools on this site are specific to PA-BCERF related programming. A comprehensive community assessment would include additional information.
One of the benefits of doing a comprehensive community assessment is that community assets and strengths are identified upon which community programs can be built. A comprehensive assessment is also helpful for identifying related community programming and potential partners, and for writing grant applications to fund community projects. For additional information on a comprehensive community assessment, visit the Community Tool Box at The University of Kansas (http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu).
PA-BCERF Community Assessment
Coalition members or clinic staff members collect information about the social, physical and health aspects of their community's population, geography and community resources. The assessment provides information to the program planners for the development of programs based upon the needs, resources, and interests of the community.
Coalitions and clinics can collect data regarding the community health status, geography and resources from a variety of sources. The assessment will likely include both quantitative and qualitative data.
Quantitative data are the numbers or the quantifiable information used to describe or assess a situation. This information is often expressed as numbers, percentages or rates. Some examples of this information are the birth rate of a county, the percentage of a population in a community, (35% of the population in the county are over the age of 65) and the percentage of the population living at or below the federal poverty level.
Quantitative data and community resource data can be collected from The U.S. Census data (available in the local library and various city and county government offices), county Cooperative Extension office, city and county commissioners, the city or county economic development departments, the Regional District Office of the PA Department of Health, city manager’s office, local hospital district, local police department, local state representative’s office, and county United Way office, Cancer Information Service (1-800-4-CANCER), and the Pennsylvania State Data Center . The phone book can also provide an extensive list of community resources.
This list of data sources is only a starting point. Individuals working in these listed agencies and government offices may be able to direct program planners to other sources of data in the community, e.g., other health coalitions or health related projects that are collecting similar data.
Qualitative data are the non-numerical information that describe a quality of an observation for the purpose of discovering underlying patterns of behavior or relationships. These data represent the perceptions about the community, its strengths and needs, as well as the community's priorities. Qualitative data can be collected through focus groups, discussion groups, key informant interviews, surveys, and town hall meetings. The data can provide program planners insight into the perceived needs and desires of community members, as well as provide planners with an extended vision of community assets.
Identify the Target Audience for Programming Efforts
After completing relevant components of a community assessment, the planning group identifies a target audience within their own community. The target audience is selected based upon the information collected in the assessment. Who will benefit most from a program? Are some people in the community affected more than others? Where do we have support for a program?
Identifying the target audience will ensure that the health education program developed is appropriate and relevant for the community. Different audiences require different strategies. The strategies developed to increase vegetable intake would differ significantly for young children than those developed for an older population.
Identifying the target audience helps to focus the planning efforts and provides a perspective for those planning. All of the strategies are in a context, i.e., all of the work goes to impact an audience.
Identifying the target audience assists in identifying the persons and organizations that can affect choices made by the selected target audience. For example, if the goal for a PA-BCERF coalition is to increase vegetable intake in children (the target audience), educational strategies that involve parents, day care providers and school cafeteria workers may be developed since they have a direct influence on the dietary habits of children.
Recruit Community Members and Professional Members as Partners
A portion of this step was
adapted from information found on the Community Tool Box web site.
The planning group recruits additional community members to assist in the establishment of priorities for the project and to participate in all aspects of assessment and program development.
This is best accomplished through a recruitment plan. The recruitment plan states whom you want or need to recruit; who is going to recruit them; and, how they are going to be recruited. Steps in a recruitment plan are as follows.
Step A) Ask questions.
Who is missing?
Who is needed to provide the input needed for developing the plan?
Who are the formal and informal leaders in the target community?
Who has a stake in the success of this program? Who will be affected by the success of the program?
Where do the people in the target audience shop? Eat? Work? Worship? Socialize? Attend school?
What skills do we need from new members?
Step B) Identify organizations and individuals who fill the needs of the planning group.
The needs of the planning group may include skills as well as perspective.
Brainstorm the list. A diverse planning group has a broader understanding of both the health problem and target audience. Be inclusive. Who are some potential partners?
Professional members may bring resources and expertise to the program planning process. To locate the organizations that may be interested in your project, talk to social service organizations in the community, obtain information from the local chamber of commerce, look in the yellow pages and blue pages of the phone directory, talk to the United Way staff or local government offices.
Community members from the target audience bring perspective on what will and will not work within the community, as well as bring perspective on the real needs and strengths of the community. Community members also add sustainability to the programs that are developed. To locate individuals, ask friends and colleagues. Walk throughout the neighborhoods. Read the newspaper. Talk to local organizations and clergy.
Step C) Make a contact list.
Make a list of whom should be contacted. Identify how the person should be contacted. Face to face? Phone? Letter? Decide also who will make the contact. Some persons that may be appropriate for your list include community members of all ages, parents, teachers, students, health and social service agency representatives, government agencies, elected officials, local business and industry representatives, voluntary organization members (e.g., Kiwanis, Lions), school officials, hospital employees, and local media representatives
Step D) Make the contact and orient the potential partner to the program.
Let the potential partner know how he or she fits into the success of the program.
Step E) Continue to "recruit" the members already present.
Ask people individually for help. Give planning members job descriptions. Recognize work that is done.
Collect Information on Audience Characteristics
The planning group (which now includes more community members) collects additional information regarding the target audience’s perceptions toward the potential environmental risks, as well as their health practices that may be related to breast cancer risk. The planning group assesses the community factors that hinder or facilitate the practice of healthy behaviors. This information increases the understanding of the health practices, barriers, and reinforcements in the community.
Information collected at this time may be quantitative, but will likely be more qualitative in nature. Qualitative data can be collected through focus groups, discussion groups, key informant interviews, surveys, and town hall meetings. The PA-BCERF staff members have developed focus group, key informant and survey assessment tools. Coalitions and clinics can develop tools that best help them collect information. The importance of including members of the target audience in the program planning process cannot be overstated.
Develop a Comprehensive Strategy
When the second assessment is completed, the planning group develops a breast cancer and environmental risk factor program specific to the community. The planning group examines the information collected from the assessment and sets priorities. The group writes program goals and objectives. The group then develops a plan that is specific to the target audience, their strengths, and their perceived needs.
The completed plan includes
The PA-BCERF program focuses on two areas, 1) Dietary /Other Lifestyle Factors and/or 2) Other Environmental Risks. The programs also address changes at the individual and community levels.
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Examples |
Dietary and Other Lifestyle Factors |
Environmental |
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Individual |
Example: Eating a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day |
Example: Learning how to read labels for appropriate us of household chemicals and pesticide |
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Community |
Example: Increasing access to fresh and affordable produce |
Example: Reducing pesticide exposure at school, worksite or recreational areas through the adoption of IPM policies |
When developing the plan, the group asks the following questions of the assessment information.
• What does the target audience want and need to learn from the program?
• How does the target audience want to receive this information?
• What skills does the target audience need to practice the desired behaviors?
• What conditions and factors need to exist to reinforce the desired behaviors?
• Where can the target audience learn the information and skills? Is this where the target audience would like to learn the information?
• What community resources are needed for the target audience to change behaviors?
• Are the resources available?
• What environmental concerns exist that are not within direct control of the target audience? Are we able to address those concerns?
• What past successes have occurred in the community related to this topic? Can we adopt some of the strategies?
• What related activities are going on in the community? How can we integrate this program into other existing programs?
An important aspect when writing a plan is to be sure that the goals and objectives of the program primarily benefit the target audience and secondarily benefit the missions of the participating organizations. Organizations that are present have a stake in the program, but are not the primary beneficiaries of the program.
Click here for a program planning worksheets to help with your program development. PDF file 
Click here for information on formal and informal strategies for marketing your program.
Click here for sample press releases, downloadable logo for your program.
PDF files require
Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download)
Implementation of the Program
The coalition or clinic implements the programs in one or all of the four domains described above according to their plan. The anticipated outcomes from program implementation are 1) individual changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors as they relate to breast cancer and environmental risk, and 2) community-level changes, such as changes in community resources, policies and organizational partnerships.
PA-BCERF places a strong emphasis on developing strategies for both the individual and community levels so that resources are available that facilitate and reinforce the practice of healthy individual behaviors. Community-level strategies are stressed so that potential risk factors over which individuals may have little control, e.g., passive pesticide exposure, are reduced. Community-level strategies implemented in tandem with individual level strategies are likely to lead to sustained changes within the community and by individuals.
Continuous Monitoring of Progress (Local Evaluation)
Coalitions and clinic members monitor the development and implementation of individual and community strategies, as well as monitor their anticipated outcomes, so that program modifications can be made, if needed, to increase the effectiveness of their programming efforts.
The plan for local evaluation is often most effective when developed simultaneously with the program plan. The planning group writes the plan so that each objective written can be measured or observed. In a nutshell, how will the planning group know if implementation is going according to timeline? How will the planning group know if the objectives are being met?
A common strategy is to take each objective and ask the following questions.
The information is put into a checklist or timeline and monitored.
Sharing Information with PA-BCERF Project (Project Level Evaluation)
Coalitions and clinics submit meeting minutes forms and activity reports to the PA-BCERF project staff members. Individuals who participate in programs may choose to participate in the research component of the PA-BCERF project. Research participants complete mail surveys, participate in interviews or focus groups. Information collected from the activity forms, key informant interviews and focus groups will be shared with the coalition and clinic members and used to develop training programs for their success.
Click for the following PDF files for Project Level Evaluation
PA-BCERF Activity Report
Meeting Minutes Form
Bibliography
Community Tool Box University of Kansas
Dignan, M.B. and P.A. Carr (1992). Program Planning for Health Education and Promotion, 2nd edition (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger).
Green, L.W. and M.W. Kreuter (1991). Health promotion planning: An educational and environmental approach, 2nd edition (Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company).
United States Department of Health Human Services, National Institutes of Health. (1992). Making health communications work: A Planner's Guide .
Windsor, R.A. and T. Baranowski, N. Clark, and G. Cutter (1984). Evaluation of Health Promotion and Education Programs (Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company).
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