Title: Planning processes
Course: Health Management, Ethics and Research - Ethiopia (Full)

Planning processes

What is planning? Remember you learned something about planning in Study Session 2.

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Planning is forecasting and thinking about things that may happen in the future. The planning process will help you to decide what needs to be done to achieve health improvements in your community.

However, knowing what planning is will not be enough. It is also important to know why you need a healthcare plan in the first place. As a Health Extension Practitioner assigned to a village your aim is to achieve the health goals of that specific community. Primarily, you need a clear understanding of what needs to be done and why you need to do it. Secondly, you can't do everything at one time, so you will need to prioritise and make decisions. Thirdly, you may have limited resources that will prevent you from doing everything, so you need to decide which actions will bring most benefit in your work. Fourthly, you need to communicate your intentions to others, and finally, you need a guide for the day-to-day implementation of your health work.

These are five very good reasons why healthcare planning is important for you to reach the health goal of your community.

What do you think are the most important parts of planning for Health Extension Practitioners?

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In order to plan their activities properly Health Extension Practitioners have to understand what needs to be done, then decide which are the most important things to do first and which will bring most benefit to their community. They need to let everyone know what they are doing and develop a stepwise plan of action.