Situational analysis

Situational Analysis

Situational analysis is the first stage in the operational planning process. It is the stage where you need to:

• Gather reliable information about the causes of health problems in the community, including from local people who will benefit from any interventions.
• Identify the health situation of the community and identify where affected population groups are located geographically.
• Discover what is currently being done to resolve the identified needs and who is doing it.
• Investigate how well identified needs have been addressed in the past and consider how you could collaborate with others in the community in order to address current needs

The purpose of situational analysis is to provide a broad basis of understanding of the current situation. This is for two reasons:

• It provides a common reference point for the rest of the planning process
• It allows the selection of priority areas of concern for planning

Components of Situational Analysis

In situational analysis we should asses the following parameters.

a. Population Characteristics

• Study size, composition and distribution of the population
• Identify target groups
• Determine population size by category
• Estimate overall population growth rate
• Determine religious, educational and cultural characteristics

b. Review Area Characteristics and Infrastructure

• Geographical and topographical situation
• Infrastructure
• Transport modes and routes
• Communications
• Water supply and sanitation facilities
• Utilities-including distribution of main electricity
• Socio-economic situation
• Change in pattern of income distribution
• Pubic and private sector structures

c. Policy and Political Environment

• Consider national health policy and programmes and relate it to actual situation in your own area
• Analyze political environment

d. Analysis Health Needs

• Information on health needs is a basic prerequisite for a plan. However, the issue of measuring health needs is a complex one.
• Information on health need come from a variety of sources including community health surveys and from records of health service contacts, as well as from perceptions of health professions.

e. Analyse Health Services

• Analyze organizational structure and functions of health services
• Service facilities
• Service utilization
• Service gaps
• Identify limitations/bottle necks in organizational structure

f. Analyze Resources

• Financial resources
• Personnel
• Material/equipment
• Space/building
• Time
• Information

g. Review Past Implementation Experience

• Find out information or experiences form activities implemented in the past Success
• Short comings