Writing the plan

Your programme plan should describe of the entire programme and how it will function. Include the following items in your plan:

Statement of need: a statement providing the rationale for the intervention and why it is needed.
For example: The rate of child obesity is growing in the city of Mingo by 2% each year. The current rate of overweight and obese children under 15 years old is 20%.

Expected outcomes: the programme's intended impacts or changes and how these impacts or changes will address the need or health issue presented.
For example: To reduce the rate of growth of child obesity in the city of Mingo by x%.

Summary of the programme's purpose: succinct but well defined, and explains exactly what the programme intends to do and the related objectives to be achieved.
For example: The Healthy Start programme will address the growing rate of obesity in Mingo through school-based activities focused on promoting healthy eating and physical activity in children.

The Objectives of the Mingo Healthy Start programmes are:

• To create at least five community gardens for the schools in Mingo within three years of programme implementation;
• To implement the healthy start curriculum in at least 50% of primary and middle schools in the Mingo public school district within three years;
• To train at least 70% of teachers working in primary and middle schools in the Mingo public school district on the Healthy Start curriculum within three years.

Proposed activities: this describes and highlights the strategies and actions that will lead to the expected outcomes. The process of describing the activities should provide insight into the programme's methodology and/or theory of change.

For instance, activities may include:

• health education sessions for teachers;
• additions to school curricula on healthy eating and physical exercise for children;
• healthy eating workshops with meal planning, food preparation, and fruit and vegetable cultivation for parents.

The holistic approach of Healthy Start builds a school environment, both physically and culturally, that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

Resources: details materials, human resources, infrastructure, and funds required and available to implement the programme.
For example: the Healthy Start programme is a partnership between the Community Association of Mingo and the regional school board, with most of the materials donated by different sectors of the community.

Stages of programme development: all programmes have different stages of development, and a complex initiative cannot be implemented without careful planning and ongoing refinement of objectives and activities. The implementation phase often includes pilot phases to test materials and activities so that they can be refined and expanded.

Context: a description of the environment, local context, and other influences (such as economic conditions, cultural norms, and political structures) that may affect programme outcomes. These factors are also important to consider when designing your evaluation plan, as they will play an important role in helping users interpret evaluation findings.

Evaluation Plan: how and when you will monitor activities and determine the success of the programme. The evaluation plan should include who will be responsible for conducting the evaluation, as well as how to collect and analyse data. It should also detail the reports to produce and with whom the reports will be shared.

Budget: this shows the full budget with all income and costs included.

You now have a comprehensive description to share with staff. The plan can be refined and altered throughout the period of the programme.