Health & Nutrition Program Planning Training Course

This course equips participants with the knowledge and practical skills required to design, plan, implement, and evaluate health and nutrition programs in diverse community and institutional settings. It focuses on program design frameworks, nutrition assessment, public health planning, intervention strategies, monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder coordination, and resource mobilization. Participants will learn how to develop evidence-based, impactful, and sustainable health and nutrition programs.

Target Groups

• Public health officers and nutritionists
• NGO and development practitioners in health and nutrition
• Government health and planning officers
• Community health workers and coordinators
• Program managers in health and humanitarian sectors
• Researchers and policy analysts in public health
• Donor and development agency staff
• Students in public health, nutrition, and development studies

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand principles of health and nutrition program planning
• Conduct situational and needs assessments in communities
• Design evidence-based health and nutrition interventions
• Develop logical frameworks and program plans
• Integrate nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific approaches
• Strengthen monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems
• Improve resource allocation and program efficiency
• Enhance stakeholder coordination and partnerships
• Address malnutrition and public health challenges effectively
• Support sustainable health and nutrition outcomes

Course Modules

Module 1: Introduction to Health and Nutrition Programming

• Concepts of public health and nutrition programs
• Global and local health and nutrition challenges
• Determinants of health and nutritional status
• Overview of program planning frameworks
• Role of stakeholders in health programming

Module 2: Situational Analysis and Needs Assessment

• Community health and nutrition assessment methods
• Data collection tools and techniques
• Identifying vulnerable populations
• Nutrition surveillance systems
• Problem prioritization and analysis

Module 3: Program Design and Planning Frameworks

• Logical framework approach (LogFrame)
• Theory of Change development
• Setting program goals and objectives
• Designing intervention strategies
• Aligning programs with national policies

Module 4: Nutrition-Specific and Nutrition-Sensitive Interventions

• Direct nutrition interventions (supplementation, treatment)
• Food security and livelihood interventions
• Maternal, infant, and young child nutrition programs
• School feeding and community nutrition programs
• Integration across sectors (health, agriculture, WASH)

Module 5: Public Health Program Implementation

• Implementation planning and coordination
• Service delivery models in health programs
• Supply chain and logistics in nutrition programs
• Human resource management in health programs
• Managing implementation challenges

Module 6: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

• Designing M&E frameworks for programs
• Key health and nutrition indicators
• Data collection and reporting systems
• Impact evaluation methods
• Adaptive learning and program improvement

Module 7: Resource Mobilization and Budgeting

• Budget development for health programs
• Funding sources and donor requirements
• Proposal writing and fundraising strategies
• Cost-effectiveness in program planning
• Financial accountability and reporting

Module 8: Community Engagement and Behavior Change

• Community participation in health programs
• Behavior change communication strategies
• Health education and awareness campaigns
• Addressing cultural and social barriers
• Strengthening community ownership

Module 9: Policy, Governance, and Coordination

• Health system governance structures
• Coordination among health stakeholders
• National health and nutrition policies
• Partnership building in health programs
• Ethical considerations in health programming

Module 10: Capstone Project and Case Studies

• End-to-end health and nutrition program design
• Case studies on successful nutrition interventions
• Group exercises on program planning and evaluation
• Scenario-based public health planning simulations
• Emerging trends in health and nutrition programming, including digital health systems, AI-driven nutrition surveillance, mobile health platforms, predictive health analytics, and integrated multi-sectoral nutrition programming models