Improving the Country Health Department’s Communication Plan

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Project Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Assessment of the communication plan..........................................................................................4
Comparison between communication plan and project management practices..............................4
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................5
Justification......................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
Communication is very important in every aspect of life. It is crucial that a good and effective
communication plan is formulated to convey all the relevant information to all the important
stakeholders. This report is aimed at developing an effective communication plan for the country
health department (CHD). The department has already established a communication plan earlier
but the plan is not appropriate for the future. The existing plan is not competent enough to gather
and communicate the information about the communicable diseases to the health department.
The project is made to improve the public health of the country by improving the health
informatics system [2]. There will be comparison between the communication plan and the
project management practices that will help to formulate an effective communication plan so that
the public health informatics system can be improved.
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Assessment of the communication plan
The country health department has formulated a communication plan so that the information
about the communicable diseases in the state can be identified and then effective measures can be
taken to eliminate the problem and provide treatment to the patients. The currently formulated
health information system is effective in tracking all the information when specific work was
assigned to it. As the public health data is expanding day by day, the communication plan is
becoming obsolete. The data base of the existing health informatics system is a separate database.
In the current informatics system, there is no link between the environmental database and the
database of communicable diseases. The database of the country health department is associated
with the database of the state. The existing database is not competent and cannot be used in the
present day scenario as the number of patients is increasing at a very fast pace. The database has
many problems as in case of the Tuberculosis program; the representative has to enter the
information of the similar clients at a various place which leads to consumption of time and
efforts of the representatives. To avoid all these situations and chaos, it is required that an
effective communication plan is developed so that the information about the infectious and
communicable diseases can be detected and tracked and all the investigations can be completed
in an effective manner as time is very important in case of providing treatment to the patients.
Comparison between communication plan and project management
practices
It is very important that the communication plan is developed after considering all the project
management practices. Given below is the comparison between the existing communication plan
and the project management practices [3]. Gaps in the communication plan will be identified so
as to formulate a new and effective communication plan for improving the information system of
public health.
 The existing communication plans the deliverables of the communication plan are not
mentioned [1]. Key deliverables of the communication plan are important to be included
in the plan so that the effectiveness of each activity of the communication plan can be
known and evaluated.
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 Communicating party is also to be included in the communication plan. In the project
management practices, there is always a discussion of the people who would
communicate the relevant project information to the associated party. In this
communication plan, information about the key stakeholders is given, but the information
about the person or party communicating the information is not provided [4].
 The quality standards and success metrics are not included in the communication plan.
This is important as the success of the project can be evaluated by mentioning some
success metrics against the project. The effectiveness of the project can be compared to
these standards [4].
 A risk response team must be included in the project so that the associated risks can be
eliminated from the project. The risk response team will help in the further improvement
of the plan.
Recommendation
Key
stakeholder
s
Stakeholder
issue
Key
messages
Communicatio
n method
Additional
information
about
communicatio
n
Timing
issue
Public
health
Unions
Public health
unions want
information
about the
number of
patients
increasing
every year in
the case of
communicabl
e diseases
Patient’s
reports and a
number of
additional
cases of
communicabl
e and
infectious
diseases.
Documentation
and reports
Highly
important
communication
On the
basis of
the
project
schedul
e
Governmen Providing Actions are Project progress Formal and On the
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t agencies information
about the
measures
taken to treat
the disease.
taken by the
CHD to treat
the infectious
disease and
communicate
the
information to
all the
relevant
stakeholders.
report and e-
mails
detailed
communication
basis of
the
project
schedul
e
Contractors To have all
the necessary
documents
about the
prevailing
problems and
diseases
Information
about the
resources
required for
improving the
medical state
of the
patients.
Reports,
telephonic
communication
and meetings
Formal and
highly
confidential
communication
On the
basis of
the
project
schedul
e
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Justification
The above communication plan is a public communication plan as it will convey the relevant
information to the public key stakeholders. The plan is effective in communicating the current
status of medical problems faced by the state. The communication plan will help in the
improvement of information system as all the public stakeholder will also have the necessary
information so that they can also take specific and necessary steps to provide effective solutions
to the people suffering from the communicable diseases [3].
Conclusion
The report concludes that it is important to make necessary changes in the plans according to the
current need. It was necessary for the country health department to implement certain changes in
the communication plan even though the employees were resistant to change. It is the duty of the
department to implement change and create such a situation that everybody positively responds
to the changes [2]. The new communication plan is competent enough to meet the requirements
of the present day situations. The plan will assist in enhancing the effectiveness of the health
information system.
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References
1. M. Kristen, M. Tick, S. A. David Burstein, J. Mitchell, J. Bochert, C. Paul, and A.
Barbour. "Improving plan of care communication between primary resident teams and
nursing staff." 2017.
2. M. Lebogang, and B. Harris. "People-centeredness in health system reform. Public
perceptions of private and public hospitals in South Africa." South African Journal of
Occupational Therapy 48.1. Pp 22-27. 2018.
3. M. Ralf, and G. Klein. "From the Editors-in-Chief: Project Management Journal®
Changes." Pp 3-4 2018..
4. S. Shannon, M. Speechley, and A. Thind. "Adapting to the needs of the public health
workforce: an integrated case-based training program." Frontiers in public health 4. Pp
221. 2016.
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