The policy, regulatory and organizational components of this segment take the provider beyond education to the political, managerial and economic actions necessary to make social systems and environments more conducive to healthful lifestyles. It has served as a successful model in a number of rigorously evaluated, randomized clinical and field trials and as a guide to the development of local health department programs adopted by several state health departments. This model has aided in the development of a federal guide for planning, review, and evaluation of maternal and child health projects and as an analytical tool for health education policy on a national and international scale. The American Lung Association has utilized this model as a Program Planning and Evaluation Guide for Lung Associations. The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute used this model to implement health promotion activities for school nutrition and cancer education curriculum.
Participation is the linch-pin of effective programs.
All stake holders in the program should have their views represented early in the planning process, in establishing objectives and in the implementation and evaluation of the program. You begin with the desired final outcome and determine what causes it - that is what must precede that outcome. This is best accomplished by involving the people in a self-study of their needs and aspirations. For a community, these are often the social problems facing the community which serve as a barometer of its quality of life. This is the social needs assessment or social diagnosis.