Communicating Findings to Decision-Makers

Analysts often explain findings to people who do not work with data every day. The report should help them understand the issue quickly.

5.7.1 Know your audience

A hospital administrator may want the indicators that need attention, the facilities with missing reports, and the action management should consider. An NGO programme manager may want progress against targets, the gaps, and what must be checked before the next report. A public health researcher may need more detail on the data, methods and limitations. Match the content to the audience.

5.7.2 Write a clear finding

Reporting completeness declined from 95% in January to 80% in March. A useful explanation: the proportion of expected facility reports received declined by 15 percentage points. The figures do not establish the reason. The programme team should review missing reports and confirm whether the number of expected reporting facilities changed.

5.7.3 Structure a short dashboard report

1. Purpose: what question were you investigating?
2. Key findings: what did the dashboard reveal?
3. Limitations: what should readers be cautious about?
4. Recommendations: what should happen next?
5. Data source and reporting period.

5.7.4 Protect confidential information

• Check whether the dashboard contains identifiable patient information.
• Remove unnecessary sensitive details.
• Confirm that the audience is authorised to see it.
• Use approved sharing methods.
• Do not publish confidential health data merely because the software makes publishing easy.