CHAPTER 4: Situation Analysis

• Health status is a product of the interaction of the population, the health sector, and the health related socio-economic factors.
• Situation Analysis

  • The initial step in planning the health system is to look into the status of different interacting components mentioned.
• Description of the present situation

  Where are we now?

  This is done in terms of the population, health status, health resources and health related socio-economic factors.
• Making a forecast of the future status

  Where do we want to go?
• Identifying the problems and seeking explanation for their occurrence
• Components of Situational Analysis

  • Description of the present situation
  • Making a forecast of the future status
  • Identifying the problems and seeking explanation for their occurrence
• Familiarization with the terms used by planners:

  • Year 0- the year which the plan is being formulated
  • Year – 1, Year -2, Year -3…etc. – the past years
  • Year 1, Year 2, Year 3…etc. – the years covered by the plan
  • Planning horizon- The last year (Year 4 in a 4-year plan)
• Planning Cycle

  1. Situation Analysis
  2. Priority Setting
  3. Setting Objectives
  4. Planning Activities
  5. Monitoring
  6. Evaluation
• Analysis of the Health Status

  • Leading causes of mortality
  • Leading causes of morbidity
  • Leading causes of infant mortality
  • Leading causes of maternal mortality
• The analysis of population should be directed towards its composition, geographical distribution, and the differences in the magnitude of certain selected vital indices (to be explained further in Biostatistics) among different geographical areas.
• Relevant socio-economic factors are studied to find out if these would affect the health status, the demand of health service, the ease or difficulty of health care delivery, the capacity of the government to provide more health benefits, and ability of the population to support their health care.
• Types of indicator that may be relevant:

  1. Economic indices
  2. Social indices
  3. Environmental indices
• The health sector is a concept used to indicate the concern of a group in a community for the development, delivery, and support of health services to individuals and the protection of the environment where they reside.
• • Study of intersectoral relationships

  • Analysis of intrasectoral relationship

  • Analysis of health facilities • Analysis of health manpower

  • Analysis of expenditures on health
• Characteristic of Data

  • Relevant
  • Specific
  • Valid
  • Accurate
  • Complete
  • Timely
  • Cost-effective
  • Unbiased