Lesson 11 SWOT Analysis Assignment

Conducting a SWOT Analysis is essential to strategic planning. Select a healthcare organization of your choice and conduct a SWOT Analysis of the organization's current state. It will be helpful if you select a healthcare organization that is familiar to you (i.e a health system in your community).

Download the SWOT Analysis template provided in Lesson 11, fill in the form based on your evaluation, and upload the document as your submission.

SWOT ANALYSIS TEMPLATE.pdf

Strategic Planning in Health Care – General Approach 850 METHODS AND TOOLS IN PUBLIC HEALTH STRATEGIC PLANNING IN HEALTH CARE - GENERAL APPROACH Doncho Donev, Neda Milevska-Kostova, Adriana Galan THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Applying the most advanced health planning and programming methods as well as the improvement of the health system organization and performance represent permanent matters of concern for every country. One of the most famous examples of strategic thinking is the well-known dialogue from Lewis Carroll's ‖Alice in the Wonderland‖: ―Cheshire Puss, ... would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?‖ ―That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,‖ said the Cat. ―I don't much care where-‖ said Alice. ―Then it doesn't much matter which way you go,‖ said the Cat. ―- so long as I get somewhere,‖ Alice added as an explanation. ―Oh, you are sure to do that,‖ said the Cat. This dialogue reflects very well the essence of a good strategy, which is about the results that should be achieved and what the ways are. Planning provides the direction and the sequence of activities in accomplishing the goals and objectives. To make a good plan it is necessary to know what are the results expected. In other words, an organization without a strategy is like a ship without a rudder, going around in circles (1-3). The Oxford dictionary defines strategy as ―planning and directing of the whole operation of a campaign or war; plan, policy‖. According to this definition, strategy is equivalent with plan and policy. Sometimes the terms are used as synonyms, but it would be a slight difference between them. For instance, World Health Organization‘s (WHO) definition of ―health policy‖ is: ―A formal statement or procedure within institutions (notably government) which defines priorities and the parameters for action in response to health needs, available resources and other political pressures" (2). Debates in health care today Health policy is an important and fast-growing area of debate not only within academics and health professionals, but also within politicians, community groups, the media and the public. This is due to the fact that health gets more and more importance in the whole society, and new uncertainties appeared as a result of recent economic and social growth and development; actually the basis for important policy debates. In the developed countries, the health expenditure has risen to such levels representing about 10 per cent of all economic activity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Other countries are expected to follow this trend. The health sector has become the largest employer in the society due to the explosion of medical opportunities. However, inequalities in health status and accessibility of health care between countries and within countries are still present and intensifying. The middle of the twentieth century was a period of triumphalism for Strategic Planning in Health Care – General Approach METHODS AND TOOLS IN PUBLIC HEALTH 851 medicine, but there are signs that the confidence in the technical solution is close to the end. Technocratic determinants of health care may condition the way in which the operational level is working, but the overall shape of health care has much more to do with political, social, economic and historical determinants than with technology (4,5). The value of health care Health care is a process which is not limited to the health sector. In the context of Western medicine, health care is focused on the organised medical care of individuals. This concern is realised through the application of medical technology by health care professionals in an institutional setting. However, health care is not always clearly distinguished from other activities to improve human life and not always valued first and foremost for the production of health. Health care professionals may see their goals not in terms of improving health, as the long-term objective, but rather in terms of managing an organisation, which is sometimes shorter-term day-to-day goal. For some people health care is a right, a human requirement which any decent society will make available for all its members. For others, health care is to be seen as an expenditure and the health sector as producing health care which is the subject of political struggle and capturing votes - a commodity or resource for which people compete. Beyond technical developments there is also growing recognition of the importance of health for the overall objectives of the societies within the European Community and broader. Health is a key foundation stone of the overall Lisbon strategy of growth, competitiveness and sustainable development. A healthy economy depends on a healthy population. This is doubly important as the European population ages in the coming decades and beside adding years to life it is necessary to add healthy life to years. Development planners have often argued that health care should be viewed as an investment in a healthier and more productive society. An alternative view sees organised health care as a large industry. Health care may be distributed unequally in the society, with favourized groups, defined by class, ethnicity, age or other attributes such as skills, receiving more than others. The issue of market-based approaches to health care versus public sector-based approaches runs through all policy debates today configuring debates about equity, development and sustainability (4,5). Health policy Policy should mainly focus on the vision for the future while learning from the past experiences, outlining priorities, setting clear directions and the main objectives within the given societal and economic context, and on the role of reaching consensus, and informing people. Based on the general policy framework, the health plans, programmes and strategies can be further developed, designing the way in which policy objectives will be achieved, establishing short- and medium-term deadlines and setting clear responsibilities for each actor involved. A wide range of policies can contribute to the improvement of population health and healthier life, ranging from employment and social protection strategies to risk factors control, health promotion and protection, and changes in the life style of the population (2,5). There are four important factors in the process of policy development and implementation in health care and public health: Strategic Planning in Health Care – General Approach 852 METHODS AND TOOLS IN PUBLIC HEALTH 1. identification of health risks/problems and preventive options, 2. intervention development, 3. policy development, and 4. policy enactment and assurance. In practice, problem definition, political context, and the policy process are inextricably intertwined, although exerting varying influences at different stages of the policy cycle. Decision-making lies at the heart of the policy process (6). Health strategy development Situational analysis represents an important step of the pre-planning phase for a strategy development. It actually evaluates the profile of population's health (can be a "target" population) and the health care system in relation with the internal and external environment. The assessment can be done based on available and reliable health indicators. The main goal of this step is to identify priority health problems based on valid criteria. Another important goal is to provide data and information necessary to design goals and objectives for the strategy. Data and information collected during this step cover the following domains:  internal and external environment (review of economic, social and health objectives and policies) - SWOT analysis;  health status and related determinants (mortality and morbidity rates, disability, burden of disease, life expectancy, lifestyle indicators, trends etc.);  health system (public/private institutions, accessibility for health care, population coverage with services, patient flow within the health care system, etc.) resources - human, material and financial (7-10). If there is a functional and valid information system, health indicators constitute a fundamental tool that generates evidence on the population health status and trends. Inequalities in health can be also evaluated, which may - in turn -serve as basis for highlighting the population groups with the highest health needs and identification of critical areas. If existing, health indicators facilitate further monitoring and evaluation of health objectives and goals set up by a strategy or program. The main output of this step is represented by a comprehensive review to inform the strategy, offering a comprehensive picture of the existing situation. Data obtained through the situation analysis also provide a benchmark against which to measure future trends (9). Problem identification and priority setting process is based on existing health system indicators, on special surveys, and on consensus research. It is actually a process of comparisons and decision-making, based on special methods and techniques for ranking the identified problems according to their importance. Limited resources require priority setting to address competing demands across health system. In order to judge and prioritise the identified problems three main criteria are commonly used:  problem's dimension and severity (incidence/prevalence, premature deaths, potential years of life lost, burden of disease, trends, the size of the population at risk, the impact on medical services, family, society, etc.); Strategic Planning in Health Care – General Approach METHODS AND TOOLS IN PUBLIC HEALTH 853  intervention capacity (knowledge on the disease/associated risk factors, prevention possibilities);  existing resources for intervention (existing services, qualified personnel, population accessibility to health services), (9,11). Strategy formulation is the process leading to the establishment of national health goals. It is crucial for a successful strategy that the goals are formulated through a democratic process, involving a continuous dialogue with target population, as well as with those actors who will have responsibility for its implementation (9,12). Goals and objectives A goal Broadly, a goal is a statement of intended output (13). A goal represents a general aim towards which to strive; a statement of a desired future state, condition, or purpose (14). A goal differs from an objective by being