Mission, Goals, Objectives, and Strategies

Whether or not you are aware of it, at some point in your life you have set goals and objectives. From planning vacations and weddings, to planning the purchase of a new car, setting goals and objectives is an integral part of the planning process.

This is especially true when planning public health programs. Establishing goals and objectives is essential to the success of the program. Each program has a unique set of goals and objectives, both long- and short-term, tailored to the overall mission of the program.

In addition, each program has specific strategies it uses in order to reach its mission, goals, and objectives. For instance, using the Hawaii example from your Discussion this week, the community identified both short-term objectives-recruiting participants and conducting classes-and long-term objectives-tracking progress for one year. Strategies to meet the objectives were outlined in the action steps, such as putting up posters and organizing support groups.

All of the objectives and strategies were tied to the goals of changing lifestyle behavior with social support, group support, and community involvement and the mission of decreasing risk of chronic disease.

What are the goals of your Course Project public health program? What objectives and strategies will help reach the program goals? In this week's section of your Course Project, you identify your program's goals, objectives and strategies.

Preparation for the Assignment:

• Review Chapter 7 in the Doyle text especially page 168); Chapter 6 in the McKenzie text (especially page 145); and the Writing SMART Objectives web article and focus on creating goals, objectives, and mission statements.

• Think about two goals, two short-term objectives, two long-term objectives, and two strategies you might use to meet the goals in your public health program.

• Review the Healthy People 2020 website to gain ideas from national initiatives that are similar to your program to create goals and objectives. Select the 2020 Topics and Objectives tab and scroll through the topics. When you find a topic similar to your program, select that topic and you will be able to click on the Overview, Objectives, and Intervention and Resources tabs to gain ideas.

• Review Chapter 7 in the Doyle text and focus on the contents of a Logic Model, in Step 4.1. Refer to the Logic Model examples in the Doyle text pages 171-172, and in the McKenzie text on page 323.

• Create a mission statement for your public health program.

• Describe two goals of your public health program and explain why you selected these goals.

• Describe two short-term and two long-term (SMART) objectives for your public health program and explain why you selected these objectives.

• Describe two strategies you might use to meet your goals and objectives.

• Create a logic model demonstrating the alignment between your mission statement, goal, learning objectives, and strategies for meeting those objectives.

Your written Assignments must follow APA guidelines. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week's Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to ensure your in-text citations and reference list are correct.