Description of the tools

Health worker in GuatemalaCapacityPlus has developed and pilot tested a set of tools to facilitate the process. The main instruments are:

Readiness checklist
The readiness checklist is a preassessment tool to identify health professional schools potentially ready to conduct a bottlenecks assessment. It consists of questions on key topics to determine whether the institution is an appropriate candidate for the Bottlenecks and Best Buys approach. Having a limited number of potential improvement areas, rather than the full range of issues, is a positive eligibility factor. Each question is given a numerical value; the higher total scores, the more “ready” a school is considered.

Assessment guide
This guide describes how to conduct a bottlenecks assessment, providing both the user and beneficiary with details of the process. It also offers tips and examples of how to successfully conduct an assessment, how to conduct stakeholder meetings, how to prioritize and cost interventions, and how to produce a final report.  

Data collection tools
A set of data collection and analysis tools is available to facilitate the bottlenecks assessment process. Tools include interview guides and written questionnaires predesigned for each of the key informants and stakeholders. The tools can be customized to specific national and institutional settings. They are:

  • Key informant interview
  • School manager interview
  • Clinical practice site manager interview
  • Student questionnaire
  • Educator questionnaire
  • Observation checklists for school and clinical practice sites.

A data collection matrix with suggested indicators and sources of data for each of the nine areas of health professional school capacity is also available. These tools present a systematic way of collecting data.

Copies of these tools can be requested from CapacityPlus.

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