This document discusses systems thinking and community health programming. It provides an overview of the steps to plan, implement, and evaluate community health programs. The key steps include assessing needs, setting goals and objectives, developing interventions, implementation, and evaluation. Evaluation is important to determine a program's effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. Systems thinking is also discussed as an alternative evaluation approach.

1. HCM 3305, Community Health 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Recognize effective organization and promotion of health
programming for community health on a
global scale.
3.1. Assess the steps for organizing a community health
program.
3.2. Identify steps needed to effectively evaluate the community
health program.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 15:
Systems Thinking and Leadership in Community and Public
Health
Unit Lesson
In this unit, we will discuss systems thinking and community
health programming.

2. Community organizing is a process that involves the
engagement of individuals, groups, and organizations.
Program planning is not required in community organizing;
however, it is often times used. Program planning
is a process where a health intervention is planned to meet the
needs within a population. Antiviolence
campaigns and stress management courses are examples of
program planning (McKenzie, Pinger, & Kotecki,
2012).
When deciding which community health interventions to create,
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) uses Guide to Community Preventive
Services (Community Guide). The Community Guide
is considered credible because it is based off the scientific
systematic review process. The guide answers
many questions that are critical to community health on subjects
such as
ked/did not work,
Control and Prevention, 2015).
Community health programs are intricate and are a key factor in
disease prevention, improving health, and
increasing quality of life. Health status and behaviors are
determined by personal, environmental, policy, and
organizational influences. Community health programming is

3. targeted at reaching the goals of Healthy People
2010. Community health programs are generally held within
healthcare settings; however, other settings are
becoming more popular. Programs are being held at schools,
worksites, religious organizations, and within
communities (Healthy People 2020, 2015). There are instances
where healthcare organizations are
collaborating with schools to offer health programs. For
instance, nutrition and exercise programs are being
offered at an increased rate. Employers see the value of
employee health. Therefore, many employers offer
incentives to employees who take part in employee wellness
programs. It is not far fetched to hear about
employers checking cholesterol, blood pressure, quality of life,
weight, BMI, and sometimes glucose. The
rationale is that healthy employees are less likely to call in sick
with health-related conditions.
Community health professionals must identify their health
issue, and then create specific and measurable
goals and objectives. Evidence-based interventions should be
used to achieve the goals and objectives. It is
UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE
Leadership in Public Health
HCM 3305, Community Health 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title

4. always a good idea to consider partnerships. The partnerships
can be between the government, business,
hospitals, schools, community, and other volunteer
organizations. The goal behind partnership is to combine
services and money and to combine information (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2015).
The steps to planning a health program are (1) assessing needs,
(2) setting goals and objectives, (3)
developing an intervention, (4) implementing the intervention,
and (5) evaluating the results. Assessing the
needs involves collecting and analyzing information to help
develop an understanding of the community
issues. Once the issue has been defined, the goals and
objectives need to be set. The goals should include
information on who may be affected and what will change
because of the intervention. The next step is
creating an intervention. The intervention occurs when the
activity or educational program that will help meet
the objectives of the health program are implemented. The final
step is evaluation, which involves determining
if the interventional program was effective (McKenzie et al.,
2012).
One example of a community health program is an adolescent
health program that targets improving
parenting skills. It is suggested that parenting interventions can
affect adolescent behaviors and health
outcomes; therefore, the intervention targets caregivers’
parenting skills. The interventions for an adolescent
parenting program target caregivers and adolescents
individually and collectively. The interventions can be
delivered in one-on-one or group sessions. The health education
focuses on awareness, skill-building,
communication, monitoring of behavior, and more specific

5. information (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2015).
After an intervention is created and used, it is important that the
program be evaluated. Evaluation determines
the effectiveness of the program. Evaluation is a process used to
understand what the health program does
well, what it does not do well, and areas of improvement. The
results are used to improve the quality of the
program and determine future planning. Evaluations can help
improve program design. It is always important
to assess and evaluate programs to ensure they are effective and
to identify areas of improvement (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).
Formative and summative are the two main evaluations types.
The first type of formative evaluation is the
needs assessment. The needs assessment identifies the target
population, the need for the intervention, and
how to meet the need. The second type of formative evaluation
is the process evaluation. This type of
evaluation measures effort and outputs of program. It examines
implementation and can be done one time or
continuously.
Outcome evaluation is the first type of summative evaluation.
Outcome evaluation measures the changes and
effects of the campaign. It also determines the extent that the
program is achieving short-term or medium-
term changes and outcomes. The impact evaluation is the second
type of summative evaluation, and it
measures long-term results. The impacts are the effects that it
has on the population, community, school, or
environment (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).
There are six steps to starting an evaluation (Centers for

6. Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.):
1. Engage stakeholders: The stakeholders should have an
interest in your topic/issue and the
evaluation. It is imperative that stakeholders are involved in the
creation of the evaluation or they are
kept informed.
2. Identify program elements to monitor: This step involves
determining what is worth monitoring.
You will determine which parts of the program you have
information for and if the appropriate data
can get collected. This step involves ongoing efforts to track the
necessary variables and shows if the
program is being conducted as intended.
3. Select the key evaluation questions: This step involves
answering basic evaluation questions. What
are you evaluating? What parts of the program will you
consider, and what are the standards that the
program should reach in order for it to be considered
successful?
4. Determine how the information will be gathered: This step
involves determining how to gather the
information and data. Which data collection methods will you
use? What sources will you use to
collect information? During this step, you will also want to
make sure you selected the correct

7. research design and methods. For instance, are you going to
collect information by using a survey?
If so, what type of survey will you distribute (internet, face-to-
face, telephone)?
HCM 3305, Community Health 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
5. Determine a data analysis and reporting plan: This step
involves determining how the data will be
analyzed. What statistical software will you use? What types of
statistical tests will you run on the
data? How will you interpret and summarize the results? Will
you disseminate (share or disperse) the
information you received?
6. Ensure use and share lessons learned: This step involves
using and sharing the information you
obtained. It involves making informed decisions based on the
information you received.
According to Sharma, Branscum, and Atri (2014), systems
thinking is an approach to problem solving that
pursues a deeper understanding of relationships and behaviors.

8. Systems thinking is a type of evaluation
method that differs from the conventional methods listed above.
There are many approaches to system
thinking, such as
d to
problems;
including attitudes and behaviors;
and when changes occurs;
ffect; and
event (Sharma et al., 2014).
Health programming and evaluation are essential for community
health. It is vital that interventions and
programs are planned and evaluated appropriately.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Building our
understanding: Key concepts of evaluation.
What is it and how do you do it? Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/healthycommunities
program/tools/pdf/eval_planning.pdf

9. Healthy People. (2015). Educational and community-based
programs. Retrieved from
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-
objectives/topic/educational-and-community-based-
programs
McKenzie, J. F., Pinger, R. R., & Kotecki, J. E. (2012). An
introduction to community health (7th ed.).
Sudbury, MA: Jones & Barlett.
Sharma, M., Branscum, P. W., & Atri, A. (2014). Introduction
to community and public health.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2015). What
is the community guide? Retrieved from
http://www.thecommunityguide.org/about/index.html