6. Develop Action Plan

6. Develop Action Plan

Introduction

On Your Mark: Start Here with Grounding Concepts and the Evidence Base

The next step is to develop an action plan, which involves the planning and identification of specific activities to implement the program strategies developed in step 5. Part of this process is to create the five-year State Action Plan Table, which at a minimum includes relevant priority needs, key strategies and measures for each of the MCH health domains.

Consider current research and evidence-based practices through the MCH Evidence Center's MCHbest database or local programs through AMCHP's Innovation Hub to select and customize activities aimed at accomplishing performance measures.  

Importance of Developing an Action Plan

Developing an action plan is a critical component of the five-year needs assessment, as it provides a structured approach to address identified health challenges and facilitates effective resource allocation and intervention strategies, including:

  • Targeted Interventions. An action plan guides Title V agencies in identifying specific health issues, populations, and geographic areas that require targeted interventions. This ensures that resources are directed where they are needed most.
  • Resource Allocation. By creating an action plan, Title V agencies can allocate resources efficiently, including funding, personnel, and infrastructure, to implement evidence-based interventions and programs. This helps maximize the impact of available resources.
  • Prioritization. Action plans help in prioritizing health needs based on their severity, prevalence, and potential for improvement. This ensures that the most pressing issues receive immediate attention.
  • Accountability. An action plan establishes clear responsibilities and timelines for implementation, holding community partners accountable for their roles in addressing public health challenges.
  • Measurable Outcomes. Developing an action plan involves setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives. This allows for the measurement of progress and the evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions.
  • Community Engagement. The process of creating an action plan often involves engaging the community, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders. Their input ensures that the plan is responsive to the unique needs and perspectives of the affected population.
  • Evidence-Based Strategies. Action plans are built on evidence-based strategies and interventions, which are more likely to produce positive health outcomes and reduce differences among different population groups.
  • Continuous Improvement. An action plan is a dynamic document that can be adjusted as new data and evidence become available. This allows for continuous improvement in public health efforts.
  • Policy Development. Action plans can inform the development of policies and regulations that support public health goals, helping to create an environment conducive to health promotion and disease prevention.
  • Emergency Preparedness. Developing an action plan is essential for public health preparedness, as it ensures that communities are ready to respond to health emergencies, such as disease outbreaks or natural disasters.

Barriers to Developing an Action Plan

There are significant barriers to developing an action plan as part of the five-year needs assessment:

  • Limited Resources. Scarce funding, personnel, and infrastructure can hinder the development and implementation of action plans.
  • Data Gaps. Incomplete or outdated data can impede the accurate identification of health needs and the development of evidence-based strategies.
  • Political and Bureaucratic Obstacles. Political agendas, bureaucratic red tape, and differing stakeholder interests can create significant roadblocks.
  • Community Resistance. Resistance from the community or affected populations due to a lack of trust or cultural conflicts can be a major barrier.
  • Lack of Partner Engagement. Inadequate involvement of key partners can result in a lack of support for the action plan.

The MCH Evidence Center has reviewed the literature to find strategies for developing an action plan:

Learn What Works

Get Ready: Immerse Yourself in Effective Strategies and Learn More

There are a number of strategies that can be used to involve develop an action plan as part of the needs assessment process. These include:

  • Action Plan Drafting. Collaboratively draft the action plan, incorporating input from stakeholders and experts, and aligning strategies with identified health needs.
  • Clear Timelines and Responsibilities. Assign clear responsibilities and establish timelines for each action plan component, ensuring accountability in the implementation process.
  • Prioritization Criteria. Establish clear and transparent criteria for prioritizing health needs, considering factors like severity, prevalence, and potential for improvement.
  • Evidence-Based Interventions. Prioritize interventions that have strong empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness, ensuring the action plan is built on sound science.
  • Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms. Develop a system for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the action plan, incorporating measurable indicators to assess progress and impact.

These trainings have been collected by the MCH Navigator:

Tools to Try

Get Set: Use these Tools to Move from Knowledge to Implementation

These tools and examples have been developed by the National MCH Workforce Development Center or collected by the MCH Digital Library:

  • 30/30 Action Plan. (National MCH Workforce Development Center). A simple way to monitor progress and record future action steps in ongoing work. The idea is that the team meets for 30 minutes every 30 days to discuss progress over the past month. The progress, roadblocks and other relevant ideas are noted on the form, along with an action plan for the following month.
  • Birth Outcomes Action Plan. (AMCHP) An interactive map that describes urgent actions needed by specific system actors to address identified barriers to change. This tool helps Title V programs strategize their role in improving birth outcomes and identify high-impact actions while maintaining a systems perspective.
  • Causal Loop Diagramming. (National MCH Workforce Development Center). A tool to help stakeholders identify leverage points and priorities that shift entire systems rather than just treating symptoms. Use this approach to understand forces shaping problems, uncover assumptions, identify unintended consequences, and develop implementation strategies.
  • Developing an Action Plan. (AMCHP). The final step of the Capacity Assessment for State Title V (CAST-5) tool, this step provides an action plan worksheet to help organize implementation activities and timelines.
  • Developing an Action Plan. (Community Tool Box). Web portal that provides instructions, a checklist, examples, tools, and training for effective action planning with practical guidance for implementation.
  • Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle. (National MCH Workforce Development Center). This MCH version provides video training and a structured way to plan how the test will be carried out, try it, observe and collect data, and adapt the strategy based on what is learned.
  • Simulation. (National MCH Workforce Development Center). A tool used to predict outcomes based on formulas and selected variables and interventions. This approach allows stakeholders to "test" interventions virtually and understand their potential impacts before implementation.

These resources have been collected by the MCH Digital Library:

  • Adapting Evidence-Based Interventions for New Populations and Settings. Year Developed: 2015. Source: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Region 2 Public Health Training Center. Presenter(s): Rachel C. Shelton, ScD, MPH. Type: Webinar. Level: Intermediate. Length: 60 minutes. 
  • Developing an Action Plan. A collaborative project of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs and the Johns Hopkins Women's and Children's Health Policy Center. Capacity Assessment for State Title V (CAST-5) is a set of assessment and planning tools for state Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant programs interested in examining their organizational capacity to carry out key MCH program functions.
  • From Data to Desk: Translating Needs Assessments into Targeted Employee Training. Year Developed: 2013. Source: Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. Presenter(s): Luann D’Ambrosio, MEd, Tina Abbott, MSW, Cindy Gleason, BS. Type: Webinar. Level: Intermediate Advanced. Length: 60 minutes.
  • Section 5. Developing an Action Plan. Community Tool Box offers tools for creating an action plan.
  • The Seven Steps of Action Planning. The Penn State Extension has outlined a seven-step process to assist you in solving problems related to team operations.
  • What is an Action Plan? Learn with Templates and Examples. As part of a business action plan, the Creately company has outlined 6 steps explaining how to write an action plan and provides editable strategy templates.

Title V Tools and Examples

Go: Learn from Your Peers Across the Country

Tools

These tools have been collected by AMCHP and the MCH Evidence Center:

Stories and Strategies for Peer-to-Peer Learning

These stories and strategies have been collected by AMCHP and the MCH Evidence Center related to Step 6:

  • Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Utilizing network and existing partners to assist with the needs assessment and selecting MCH priorities. Providing expertise and intersection activities to develop the action plan.
  • Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Include CYSHN and families with practical experiences in the action plan. Having all MCH managers involved in the needs assessment. It will address more domains.
  • Mississippi: We are mining the contact/partner list from programs, not directly or traditionally, or historically involved in the MCH needs assessment to add a minimum, leverage those organic relationships to increase stakeholder feedback and access the population(s) they serve.
  • Nebraska: Activities: partnering with accreditation team to track needs assessment indicator between assessment, periods using their software. Other programs are able to utilize state to improve their work and Title V can align activities more easily. Advice: simplify all the resources for your state/jurisdiction. There is an endless amount of info, but every jurisdiction is different. Just take what you need and leave the rest.
  • Vermont: I'm the SSDI coordinator, so I'm working with the new measures in the FAD to see where we are strong and weak. It works by giving us a fuller picture on how we are doing in advance of selecting measures and (if I get to the stratified evidence in time) will help with SDOH. It's very time consuming, but will help a lot when we are writing up the report in the spring.
  • Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Partner engagement. Ensure population representation. Keep partners in the loop (informed) of every stage of the NA process.

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Please take a moment to share your stories and strategies related to Step 6 of your needs assessment that you would like highlighted on this page. By sharing your stories, you help to document the needs assessment process for use by other Title V agencies during this cycle and will help preserve this knowledge for needs assessment processes in the future.

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