Interventions & policies I
Lecture 1 – Systematic program planning – John de Wit – 08-09-22
Intervention & policy development, implementation & evaluation
What is the problem? What, who, where, when
What causes the problem? Behavior & environment
What can be done about it? Change approaches (someone needs to change smt)
How can approaches be promoted? Implementation in practice
How do we know if it works? Process & effect evaluation
It also requires us to think differently
Intervention and policy
More concrete and more abstract change approaches
Intervention: Actions to change a situation (aim is to change something)
Program: series of planned activities
Service: dedicated organization
Campaign: broad communication
Training: building capacity
Policy: high-level, overall plan
Interventions are concrete ways to achieve policy goals
Policies are the broader context guiding interventions
How to decide on a change approach?
Expertise & experience (we’ve done it before, does not mean it
will work)
Best practice approach (brainstorm)
Evidence-based approach
Behavioral & social theories (we can use this in the absence of
evidence, they way you phrase a message is important)
Local resources and constraints
Political and social concerns (promotion is mostly about informing people)
‘Good health promotion programs are not created by chance; they are the product of
coordinated effort and are usually based on a systematic planning model or approach’
(McKenzie et al., 2017; p. 41)
It is a systemic scientific progress, logically thinking things through.
The power of planning; 4 reasons why planning is important
1. Planning forces you to think through the details in advance (come up with hurdles, you
don’t have to go back and forth every time you think of something)
2. Planning makes your program transparent (communicate it with other people)
3. Planning is empowering (sense of control about what you are doing)
4. Planning creates alignment (communicate and discuss with others and maybe change)
, Development and use of planning approaches
Precede-proceed planning model
Two way process, will be explained later in the lecture
It is a very abstract model, so therefore the second approach:
Intervention Mapping protocol
The models build on each other
Helps with translating the abstract precede-proceed planning model to academic thinking
Ina and John think that this protocol is actually not that practical, or that it is practical but a lot
of work
Stepwise process, structured & cumulative
Closely linked, complementary approaches
Developed in the domain of health promotion (can also be applied to other domains)
Widely applicable and used in range of domains
-not necessarily to exactly know every step-
Participatory approach
People affected have the right to be involved
Other stakeholders: experts, decision-makers, service providers
Jointly developed interventions more likely to be effective, implemented and used
Broader scope of skills, knowledge, expertise, resources
Recognition of local knowledge of community, practitioners
Increased appropriateness through shared priorities, values
Social-ecological approach
Identify & target environmental agents
It is not just about the individual, but there might be other factors that influence behavior
Looking beyond the individual for causes
Lecture 1 – Systematic program planning – John de Wit – 08-09-22
Intervention & policy development, implementation & evaluation
What is the problem? What, who, where, when
What causes the problem? Behavior & environment
What can be done about it? Change approaches (someone needs to change smt)
How can approaches be promoted? Implementation in practice
How do we know if it works? Process & effect evaluation
It also requires us to think differently
Intervention and policy
More concrete and more abstract change approaches
Intervention: Actions to change a situation (aim is to change something)
Program: series of planned activities
Service: dedicated organization
Campaign: broad communication
Training: building capacity
Policy: high-level, overall plan
Interventions are concrete ways to achieve policy goals
Policies are the broader context guiding interventions
How to decide on a change approach?
Expertise & experience (we’ve done it before, does not mean it
will work)
Best practice approach (brainstorm)
Evidence-based approach
Behavioral & social theories (we can use this in the absence of
evidence, they way you phrase a message is important)
Local resources and constraints
Political and social concerns (promotion is mostly about informing people)
‘Good health promotion programs are not created by chance; they are the product of
coordinated effort and are usually based on a systematic planning model or approach’
(McKenzie et al., 2017; p. 41)
It is a systemic scientific progress, logically thinking things through.
The power of planning; 4 reasons why planning is important
1. Planning forces you to think through the details in advance (come up with hurdles, you
don’t have to go back and forth every time you think of something)
2. Planning makes your program transparent (communicate it with other people)
3. Planning is empowering (sense of control about what you are doing)
4. Planning creates alignment (communicate and discuss with others and maybe change)
, Development and use of planning approaches
Precede-proceed planning model
Two way process, will be explained later in the lecture
It is a very abstract model, so therefore the second approach:
Intervention Mapping protocol
The models build on each other
Helps with translating the abstract precede-proceed planning model to academic thinking
Ina and John think that this protocol is actually not that practical, or that it is practical but a lot
of work
Stepwise process, structured & cumulative
Closely linked, complementary approaches
Developed in the domain of health promotion (can also be applied to other domains)
Widely applicable and used in range of domains
-not necessarily to exactly know every step-
Participatory approach
People affected have the right to be involved
Other stakeholders: experts, decision-makers, service providers
Jointly developed interventions more likely to be effective, implemented and used
Broader scope of skills, knowledge, expertise, resources
Recognition of local knowledge of community, practitioners
Increased appropriateness through shared priorities, values
Social-ecological approach
Identify & target environmental agents
It is not just about the individual, but there might be other factors that influence behavior
Looking beyond the individual for causes
