REALITIES OF DEVELOPING COMMUNITY-HEALTH ORIENTATION PROGRAMS

The realities of developing an orientation program include recognizing the critical influence of organizational culture and management prior ities on the final form of plans and projects. The step from theory to practice is illustrated in the experience of three of the authors as they began to implement competency-based orientation programs. The com mon experiences of these three very different agencies were that progr ams are affected by organizational readiness, evolution to meet organi zational needs, and the administrative context.