A health coordinator and client demonstrate which DECIDE step when evaluating whether a quit-smoking plan succeeded after a month?

• A. Evaluate and monitor the solution
• B. Establish the criteria
• C. Consider all the alternatives
• D. Develop and implement a plan of action

Answer: (A)

Focusing on how outcomes are measured after action, you’re looking at whether the plan actually worked. In the DECIDE approach, after you develop and implement a plan, the next step is to evaluate and monitor the solution to see if it achieved the desired results. For a quit-smoking plan, that means checking if the client stayed smoke-free for the month, how cravings and triggers were managed, whether the plan was followed, and what changes might be needed going forward. This step is about gathering evidence of success or failure and deciding whether to continue, adjust, or stop the plan.

The other steps happen earlier: establishing criteria sets the standards for success before you act, considering all alternatives happens during planning to explore options, and developing and implementing a plan is the execution phase. But once a month has passed, the evaluation step is the one that determines how well the plan performed.