Course in Health Planning and Programming

Course Content

The following subjects are covered during the course:

• Health planning and programming, including principles of leaving no one behind, people-centred health care, accountability and sustainability text, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, good governance, equitable partnerships and community participation
• Working in teams, communication and group work, conflict management, feedback skills
• Project proposal contents, including situation analysis; problem analysis; selection of priorities and formulation of objectives with a pro-poor, equity, good governance and rights focus; interventions, strategies, activities and timeframe; monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) procedures; institutional setting; a comprehensive budget; risks and critical assumptions for success
• Presentation skills

You will learn and practice using several planning tools in the whole process: constructing a problem tree, developing a logical framework, designing a Gantt chart, using the nominal group technique in a priority setting, etc. Participants rotate roles in leading the group sessions.

Content

You will work on the basis of a set of documents, most of them similar to what an expert/advisor may find in a real-life situation.

Guided by principles of leaving no one behind, people-centred health care, accountability and sustainability, you work in small groups through the different steps of the planning and programming cycle:

• addressing situation analysis, priority needs and objectives
• defining interventions and indicators
• developing a budget and the institutional setup
• discussing assumptions and risks
• taking into account issues of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, good governance, equitable partnerships and community participation

Participants will learn and practice using several planning tools in the whole process: constructing problem trees, a logical framework, a Gantt chart, a nominal group technique in a priority setting, etc.

This course is tropEd accredited and can be followed as a stand-alone course or as a specialisation course of the Master in Public Health and Health Equity programme.

Learning methods

This is a group simulation exercise. Participants work most of the time in their group of around eight people; teamwork skills and conflict resolution are also important components of the learning outcomes.

There are inputs from facilitators on specific technical issues as well as on the group work, and communication process. A peer feedback system ensures reflection by the members of the group during the exercise.

Apart from the short sessions for specific input, facilitators are available by appointment and/or ‘on demand’ by the group.

Assessment:

For participants who wish to receive a certificate of completion of the course, including the ECTS credits, the assessment is required.

If you do not wish to do the assessment, you can receive a certificate of attendance of the course.

Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Elaborate a clear, concise consistent, feasible and sustainable public health project proposal, including:

• situation analysis; problem analysis; selection of priorities and formulation of objectives with a leaving no-one behind, equity, good governance and rights focus; interventions, strategies, activities and timeframe monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) procedures; institutional setting; a comprehensive budget; risks and critical assumptions for success and sustainability plan
• Work effectively in a team, both as a team member and a team leader
• Present and defend the proposal