3.3.1 Situational analysis
Situational analysis is the first stage in the operational planning process. It is the stage where you need to:
- Gather reliable information about the causes of health problems in the community, including from local people who will benefit from any interventions.
- Identify the health situation of the community and identify where affected population groups are located geographically.
- Discover what is currently being done to resolve the identified needs and who is doing it.
- Investigate how well identified needs have been addressed in the past and consider how you could collaborate with others in the community in order to address current needs.
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a tool that can help you analyse situations more easily in your planning process. SWOT stands for:
S = Strengths
W = Weaknesses
O = Opportunities
T = Threats.
The purpose of the SWOT analysis is to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses of an organisation or project, and the external opportunities and threats the organisation or project faces.
The best time to do a SWOT analysis is after you have reviewed progress and completed an environmental scan. The process can be done for the Health Post and the community.
Case Study 3.1 Village level SWOT analysis
In village A community members and kebele leaders are concerned about health issues and work closely with their Health Extension Practitioners.
Several health promoters have volunteered to work with the HEPs. Most community members make their living from selling coffee, which makes them economically stronger than similar nearby villages, and literacy rates are higher than in neighbouring villages. In summer there is frequent flooding and it is also a malarial area. The FMOH has developed a five-year strategic plan for the health sector in this region. However, although the Health Extension Practitioners are busy and work hard, they don’t have a health plan and they don’t know how to measure their performance. Communication skills amongst them are weak.
Read the case study and attempt a SWOT analysis of the situation in village A. Construct a table under the headings: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and enter your analysis in the relevant boxes.
When you have finished, compare your analysis with Table 3.1, which shows a SWOT analysis of village A. You can see how setting out the analysis like this helps to clarify the situation and points the way to possible ways to improve things.
Table 3.1 SWOT analysis of village A. Strengths Weaknesses Hard working Health Extension Practitioners
Motivated workers and volunteers
Good support from kebele leaders
Absence of a health plan
Weak recording systems
Poor communication skills
Opportunities Threats Good strategic health policy
Literacy rate high
High monthly income in community
Volunteer health promoters recruited
Flood
Malaria
3.3 Stages of operational planning