University of Gondar
College of Medicine and Health Science
Institute of Public Health
Department of Health Systems and Policy
Chapter Two: Monitoring
Demiss Mulatu (BSc,MPH)
September,2020
1.1: Basic Concepts of Program
Session Objectives
At the end of this session you will
be able to:
oUnderstand basic concepts of
program monitoring
04/16/2021 Monitoring 2
Basic Concepts
Why do we monitor and
evaluate a program/project?
04/16/2021 Monitoring 3
Basic Concepts cont’d….
If you do not measure results, you can not tell
success from failure.
If you can not see success, you cannot reward it.
If you can not reward success, you are probably
rewarding failure.
If you can not see success, you can not learn from it.
If you can not recognize failure, you can not correct
it
If you can demonstrate results, you can win public
support
04/16/2021 Monitoring 4
Basic Concepts cont’d….
Definitions:
Program Monitoring…… (2 minutes)
Program Evaluation……. (2 minutes)
MONITORING and EVALUATION Similarity and
differences
04/16/2021 Monitoring 5
Basic concepts cont’d….
• Monitoring of a program or intervention
involves systematic collection of routine
data that measure progress toward achieving
program objectives.
• Basically, monitoring answers “What is
going on?”
• In a simple term monitoring is a comparison
of a project’s plans with what actually is
happening or has happened.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 6
Basic concepts cont’d…
• Program evaluation as a systematic collection of
information about the activities, characteristics,
and outcomes of programs to make judgments
about the program, improve program
effectiveness, and/or inform decisions about
future program development.
(CDC, 2011)
04/16/2021 Monitoring 7
04/16/2021 Monitoring 8
Basic concepts cont’d…
• Monitoring is a continuous function that uses
the systematic collection of data on specified
indicators to provide management and
stakeholders of an ongoing development
intervention with indications of the extent of
progress and achievement of objectives and
progress in the use of allocated funds.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 9
Basic concepts cont’d…
• Evaluation is the systematic and objective
assessment of an on-going or completed project,
program, or policy, including its design,
implementation, and results.
• The aim is to determine the relevance and
fulfillment of objectives, development efficiency,
effectiveness, impact, and sustainability.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 10
Basic Concepts cont’d….
In general, monitoring and evaluation helps program
implementers to:
o Make informed decisions based on objective evidence;
o Ensure the most effective and efficient use of resources;
o Objectively assess the extent to which the program is
having or has had the desired impact;
o Meet organizational reporting and other requirements, and
o Convince stakeholders that their investments have been
worthwhile or that alternative approaches should be
considered.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 11
Basic Concepts cont’d….
• Program monitoring is the systematic
documentation of key aspects of
program performance that are indicative
of whether the program is functioning as
intended or according
to some appropriate standard.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 12
Basic Concepts cont’d….
Program monitoring is usually directed
at on or more of three key questions:
Whether a program is reaching the appropria
te target population,
Whether its service delivery and support func
tionsareconsistent with program design speci
fications or other appropriate standards, and
Whether positive changes appear among the
program
participants and social conditions the progra
m addresses.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 13
Basic Concepts cont’d….
Program Monitoring involves tracking
program performance in three domains,
w/c are:
oMonitoring service utilization
oMonitoring program organization
oMonitoring program outcome
04/16/2021 Monitoring 14
Basic Concepts cont’d….
Monitoring service utilization consists of
examining the
extent to which the intended target population
receives the intended services.
o How many individuals/hhs are receiving services?
o Are those intended targets?
o Are they receiving the proper amount, type, and q
uality of services?
o Are there targets who are not receiving services?
04/16/2021 Monitoring 15
Basic Concepts cont’d….
• Monitoring program organization re
quires comparison of the plan for what
the program should be doing, especially
with regard to providing services, and
what is actually done.
oAre necessary program functions being pe
rformed adequately?
04/16/2021 Monitoring 16
Basic Concepts cont’d….
Monitoring program outcome entails a survey o
f the status of program participants after they
have received service to determine if it is in line
with what the program intended to accomplish.
E.g. routine client satisfaction survey
o Are participants satisfied with their interactions with
program personnel and procedures?
o Do participants engage in appropriate followup
behavior after service?
04/16/2021 Monitoring 17
Types of monitoring
• Generally categorized in to:
– Implementation-focused monitoring
and result-based monitoring
04/16/2021 Monitoring 18
Implementation focused monitoring
• Traditionally used for project
• Key features:
– Description of the problem or situation before
the intervention
– Benchmarks for activities and immediate
outputs
– Data collection on inputs, activities, and
immediate outputs
– Systematic reporting on provision of inputs
04/16/2021 Monitoring 19
Implementation cont’d….
– Systematic reporting on production of outputs
– Directly linked to a discrete intervention (or
series of interventions)
– Designed to provide information on
administrative, implementation, and
management issues as opposed to broader
development effectiveness issues.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 20
Result-based monitoring
• Used for a range of interventions and strategies
• Key features:
– Baseline data to describe the problem or
situation before the intervention
– Indicators for outcomes
– More focus on perceptions of change among
stakeholders
04/16/2021 Monitoring 21
Purpose of monitoring
• Projects are monitored so as to:
– To provide information to assist
stakeholders in comparing performance
against plans
– Minimize the risk of project failure
– Promote systematic and professional
management; and
– Assess progress in implementation.
04/16/2021 Monitoring 22
Monitoring questions
–How well has the program been
implemented?
–How much does implementation vary
from site to site?
–Did the program benefit the intended
people? At what cost?
04/16/2021 Monitoring 23
Any questions?
04/16/2021 Monitoring 24
Individual exercise:
Types of monitoring
Hypothetical intervention:
• Program X and Y provided Infection prevention training
for 100 health workers, each, at different sites. Program
X has implementation focused Monitoring system,
whereas Y has result based Monitoring system.
• How will they monitor this activity; describe in details ?_______
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
________________________________________________
04/16/2021 Monitoring 25