12. CPH Domain 7: Planning Models, SMART Objectives
After this lesson you can
- Place activities in the right phase of PRECEDE-PROCEED and name the MAPP 1.0 assessments
- Write process, impact, and outcome objectives with a baseline, target, timeframe, and data source
- Tell outputs from outcomes in a logic model
- Match the work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, RACI matrix, and risk register to the question each answers
- Distinguish fidelity, documented adaptation, and drift, and choose the planner's corrective action
Video coming soon
Scheduled for release on November 27, 2026.
The first of two lessons on CPH Domain 7, Program Planning and Evaluation, which carries 11 percent of the exam. It covers task statements 5 to 11: planning models, needs and assets, behavioral theory, SMART objectives and metrics, project management tools, and implementation fidelity, built around Harbor County's prediabetes program.
Questions and answers
Questions a learner would ask about this lesson. Think through your own answer before you open each one.
- How much of the exam is Domain 7, and what does this lesson cover?
Show answer
Domain 7, Program Planning and Evaluation, carries 11 percent of the exam, about nineteen of the 175 scored items, split between lessons 12 and 13. Domain 7 has eleven task statements, and this lesson covers tasks 5 through 11. Items ask which objective type a statement is, which model step an activity belongs to, which project management tool fits a need, and what to do when a program drifts.
- What is the difference between PRECEDE and PROCEED?
Show answer
PRECEDE is the diagnosis half, phases 1 to 4: social, epidemiological (with behavioral and environmental), educational and ecological, and administrative and policy assessment. PROCEED is the implementation and evaluation half, phases 5 to 8: implementation, then process, impact, and outcome evaluation. The lesson's rule: the exam asks which half first, then which phase.
- How do process, impact, and outcome objectives differ?
Show answer
Process objectives describe what the program does, such as sessions delivered or participants enrolled, and match outputs. Impact objectives describe short-term change in people, such as knowledge, skills, and behavior. Outcome objectives describe change in health status, such as incidence or progression to disease, and have the longest time horizon.
- What are the four parts of a good metric?
Show answer
Every objective needs a baseline (the value now), a target (the value you commit to), a timeframe (by when), and a data source (where the number will come from). In Harbor County's impact objective, for example, the baseline is 22 percent from the intake survey and the target is at least 60 percent of completers reporting 150 or more minutes of activity per week.
- What should a planner do when staff change a program without telling anyone?
Show answer
Unplanned change that nobody records is drift. The planner documents the change, assesses fidelity to the core components, and then either corrects back to the plan or formally adapts the plan and tells the funder. Adaptation is allowed when it is deliberate and documented, and the core components (the active ingredients) should not change.
Practice quiz
- Question 1"By June 30, 2027, at least 60 percent of completers will report 150 or more minutes of physical activity per week" is which type of objective?
- Question 2In PRECEDE-PROCEED, asking whether behavior and its contributing factors changed is which phase?
- Question 3Which MAPP 1.0 assessment examines how well the system delivers the essential services?
- Question 4In a RACI matrix, how many people are accountable for a single task?
- Question 5Harbor County's process objective calls for 8 cohorts of 12 weekly sessions each. How many sessions is that in total?
- Question 6Person A, a program coach, quietly shortens two sessions to save time and records nothing. In the lesson's terms this is:
- Question 7Which theory is built on reciprocal determinism, in which person, behavior, and environment influence each other?
- Question 8A Gantt chart answers which planning question?
- Question 9Which set lists the four risk responses taught for a risk register?
- Question 10In PRECEDE phase 3, predisposing factors are:
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CPH Exam Pathway is an independent course produced by Subthesis for educational purposes. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE), and completing it does not confer certification. Confirm fees, eligibility, and exam rules against the current NBPHE candidate handbook.