Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This paper explores how three public strategies from the Province of Ontario use principles of good strategy design to achieve success. A strategy is a multicomponent set of policy and program interventions, including system enablers, employed toward the achievement of health outcomes. Governments are deploying strategies for a variety of public health problems, and what is included in these strategies and how they are implemented will affect their success. Conceptual models suggest the need for multi-component, multi-level interventions supported by system enablers such as capacity building, advocacy and learning systems and brought together by a shared core purpose. However, there is almost no empirical study of the effect of design principles on strategy goals. This paper reports on three cases studies of strategies tackling complex issues – tobacco cessation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and mental health and addictions. Data is collected from document analysis and interviews with 19 informants (current and past senior public servants, academics involved in developing research for the strategy, and community advocacy representatives). Results show that there is no one template for strategy design across Ministries, but there are common design principles that informants consider key to success. Results also reveal new aspects of design and implementation that may influence a strategy’s impact over time.