Strategic Vision
The overarching component of a strategically oriented health communication program is a powerful, well-articulated, long-term vision.
Example
The Coalition for Healthy Indonesia envisioned “healthy individuals, families, and communities in a healthy nation.” By 2010, their mission at the individual/household level is that individuals and households (2000):
- Are receiving health-related messages through multiple channels.
- Are knowledgeable about personal and public health problems, are knowledgeable of types and sources of services to prevent diseases and promote health, and will be motivated to adopt healthy behaviors and practices.
- Understand their rights to a healthy environment and to a basic package of accessible, affordable, quality health services.
- Are participating in social, cultural, religious, and other associations that include health information, promotion, and advocacy on their agendas.
- Are exhibiting healthy behavior and avoidance of health risk.
Every program needs a long-term vision. It can empower people because it shows what is important. It can stimulate teamwork because it shows what everyone needs to do. And it can strengthen organizations because it generates new energy.
—(Piotrow, Kincaid, Rimon, & Rinehart, 1997).
A good strategic vision is one that is shared among all stakeholders. It is inspirational and concrete, suggests what people need to do, and engages participants. The strategic vision should paint a mental picture of a desired scenario in the future. It should reflect the core values and beliefs shared by team members, such as the concept of people acting as producers of their own health. A good strategic vision focuses not on the size of the problem at hand but on the possibility of sharing in the creation of a better future.
[I have a vision of a society where] Nontechnical, everyday people are able to easily use technology.
—Steve Jobs, Chairman, Apple Computers
I have a vision. I want to see an Indonesia twenty years from now in which 80 percent of FP services are provided by the private sector and 20 percent by the government, with government serving only those who are poor or cannot afford to pay. Work with us to make this vision a reality.
—Dr. Haryono Suyono, Chairman of the Indonesian National
Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), 1986
Good strategic visions are also practical and set the team’s sights on what is considered possible. Visions considered to be beyond the realm of possibility are often disregarded as a leader’s fanciful dreams. A dream that is not thought possible to achieve in real life is ignored.
Successful elements of strategic visions:
- Build on the core strengths of the program.
- Reinforce a program’s history and culture while striving to achieve new goals.
- Clarify the purpose and direction of communication activities.
- Emphasize the power of teamwork.
The true test of a strategic vision is this: Does it provide direction, communicate enthusiasm, kindle excitement, and foster commitment and dedication? If it does, then the strategic vision can provide several benefits, including:
- Empowering the team to work toward a common goal because the vision shows what is important. A vision stimulates teamwork because it shows what everyone needs to do. Inspirational visions energize program activities, giving them new strength upon which to draw when implementing strategies.
- Helping team members determine priority actions in relation to the program. A vision helps people focus on attaining certain outcomes and on acting in ways that will achieve those outcomes. When a clear vision is in place, it concentrates power by avoiding arguments about whether to do something or not.
- Claiming the future. A vision supplies a calling for team members, creating meaning for their work and a justifiable pride. By comparing the present with a desired future, a vision creates a useful tension between what exists now and how the team would like the world to be. It helps people recognize barriers to achieving the desired state or condition by vividly describing the desired state and making it seem attainable.
Effective communication efforts develop vision statements, with the participation of stakeholders and beneficiaries, to set forth the direction that the team should follow and to define clearly and succinctly how the communication activities will affect the broader program environment. Sometimes a program mission statement is also developed to translate the overall thrust of the strategic vision into more management-oriented goals and objectives. The vision statement should be a brief but compelling description of how the health situation or condition will look after the communication activities have successfully reached their conclusion. This statement should become the catalytic force or organizing principle for all subsequent strategic communication activities carried out by the team.
A Framework for Strategic Design
Many theoretical models and frameworks can guide the strategic design process (see appendix 1). This book describes a framework known as the PBC; a framework that has been used successfully in the field of health communication for many years.
