Evaluation Proposal

Evaluation Proposal

Introduction

Evaluation is often conducted for accountability purposes. However, the benefits of evaluation are more wide-reaching than meeting accountability requirements. Evaluation is crucial for assessing the effect your program/strategy has had within the local community, its cost effectiveness, whether you achieved what you expected, and identifying opportunities for improvement. In addition, evaluation enables practitioners more systematically to document, disseminate and promote effective practice (Garrard et al 2004). The evidence base for health promotion is dominated by relatively large intervention trials conducted by universities and other research organizations. Smaller, community-based initiatives can be very effective, but are rarely included in the published evaluation literature. Evaluation and documentation of these interventions will help to provide a more balanced evidence base for effective action to improve health and wellbeing (Garrard et al 2004) and with new online information and communication systems, such as the Quality Improvement Planning System (QIPPS), there are increasing opportunities to share such evidence.

This resource has been developed by the School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, as part of the Evaluation Skill Development Project funded by the Department of Human Services Primary and Community Health Branch. It contributes to the branch's commitment to support capacity building in the health promotion sector and builds on two key department documents: Integrated health promotion resource kit; and Measuring health promotion impacts: a guide to impact evaluation in integrated health promotion.

The Primary and Community Health Branch has funded the primary health care sector to support internal organizational change processes required for improved health promotion practice. The department has also implemented a range of external statewide and regional capacity building strategies, including the five-day Core Health Promotion Short Course (funded through the Public Health Group and Regional offices) and Health Promotion Planning Workshops for Community and Women's Health Services, to complement these internal strategies. While the quality of planning for health promotion is increasing through the use of a common planning framework and this workforce development activities, the standard of evaluation skills remains variable. Reviews of Primary Care Partnerships (PCPs) and Community and Women's Health health promotion plans have indicated the need to improve the capacity of practitioners in the development and implementation of evaluation processes. The evaluation report of the Core Health Promotion Short Course (Keleher, H et al 2003) equally identified qualitative and quantitative research skills, to support evaluation and needs assessment, as the most commonly identified need by practitioners and managers interviewed. This resource will assist agencies, organizations and partnerships to evaluate more effectively their health promotion programs/plans. It supports the principles of integrated health promotion and, in doing so, considers the needs of all parties involved in planning, delivering and evaluating health promotion programs. The resource provides a framework for planning an effective approach to evaluating health promotion practice, and is consistent with the current department integrated health promotion policy context and current planning and reporting requirements for the branch's funded health promotion programs.

Evaluation is always dependent on a range of factors, including the program/strategy ...