Information Use Part II Informing Decisions Strengthening Programs through Improved Use of Data and Information

Define the Need: Understanding Decision-making

Definition  Decision  A choice between two or more alternative courses of action  May or may not imply a change 3 What decisions have you made already today???

Definition  Diagnosis  To analyze the underlying cause(s) of a condition or situation 4

Diagnosis vs. Decision  Diagnosis: The program is on track  Decision: Continue operations at current levels or Reduce training, increase outreach 5

Understanding Decision-Making  What is the decision to be made?  Who makes it?  When and why is the decision made?  How is the decision made?  What information is needed?  What is my role in decision making? 6

7 Understanding Decision-Makers Sector Health Education Commercial Function Policy Planning Advocacy Evaluation Level National Regional Community Organization Decision Makers

Remember…  Stakeholders differ on:  Goals, behaviors, capabilities, resources  Information used to support their decisions  Stakeholders may consider the same data and information…and arrive at different conclusions and decisions 8

Consider decisions in your organization…  Within your organization, what decisions do you make?  What decisions do you influence? 9

BRAINSTORM ACTIVITY Sharing and building on your work experience:  How do you make those decisions?  What information are you using? What information do you need to do your job?  Is there other information that you would like to have that you don’t have? 10

Types of Decisions  Policy & Planning  Program Design & Improvement  Program Management & Operations 11

Policy and Planning  Family Planning Counseling Protocol  Including line items to Regional, Council, village, ward budgets  HIV/AIDS National Strategy Document  Selecting priority activities for community action plans 12

Program Design & Improvement  Specification of procedures for PMTCT services  Procurement of drugs and commodities  Improving performance of family planning counselors 13

Program Management & Operations  Number of staff to support program monitoring  Reporting mechanisms  Allocation of national program funds to districts or local implementers 14

Decisions Within Programs Ensure program activities are executed as planned and services are delivered as intended  Are we doing the right things, doing them right, and reaching those we intended?  Decisions about:  employment & manpower  mobilization & allocation of resources  needed information and developing feedback channels 15

Other factors that influence decisions  Public opinion  Competing priorities  Power relationships  Timing  Local culture surrounding decision-making  Anecdote  Other information sources 16

What can your programs do with data already being collected?  Everyone take 5 minutes and write down what decisions at various levels (district, sub-district, service provider, regional) could benefit from using data.  What other data would be complementary to the data that you collect? 17

Decision Making Exercise Considering the decisions that you mentioned:  Provide an example of decisions made either without evidence-based data or by using poor quality data.  What happened as a result of this decision? How could it have been made differently? 18

MEASURE Evaluation is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through Cooperative Agreement GPO-A and is implemented by the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina in partnership with Futures Group, John Snow, Inc., ORC Macro International, and Tulane University. Visit us online at