Health Program Planning and Evaluation

  Develop a working plan for how you would involve stakeholders in the development of the intervention evaluation plan. How does your plan address timing and budget constraints? In what ways does your plan include attention to interactions and group processes? Which strategies will be used to address the four criteria for having a good evaluation question? Participation rates for three programs in Layetteville and Bowe County are given in Exhibit 9-3. Review the information for the violence prevention program delivered in schools to individual students and the adult immunization program. Given that information, which type of effect evaluation samples would you suggest for each of those programs, and why? It is common for stakeholders to essentially ask, “How can you prove that our program had an effect?” What would be your standard, simple, “sound bite” response to this question? List the four criteria for assessing the rigor of qualitative studies. Imagine that you are planning to conduct in-depth interviews of program participants to assess program effects. For each criterion, give one example of how you would address that criterion in your plan for the outcome evaluation.  
How to involve stakeholders in the development of the intervention evaluation plan
  • Timing and budget constraints: The evaluation plan should be developed in a timely manner and within the budget constraints of the project. This means that stakeholders should be involved early in the planning process so that their input can be incorporated into the evaluation design. It also means that the evaluation plan should be realistic and achievable, given the available resources.
  • Interactions and group processes: The evaluation plan should include strategies for facilitating interactions and group processes among stakeholders. This could involve holding stakeholder meetings, conducting focus groups, or using other participatory methods. The goal is to ensure that all stakeholders have a chance to contribute to the evaluation plan and that their views are taken into account.
  • Four criteria for having a good evaluation question: The evaluation plan should address the four criteria for having a good evaluation question:
    • Relevance: The evaluation question should be relevant to the goals and objectives of the program.
    • Feasibility: The evaluation question should be feasible to answer, given the available resources.
    • Meaningfulness: The evaluation question should be meaningful to stakeholders.
    • Clarity: The evaluation question should be clear and understandable to all stakeholders.
Type of effect evaluation samples for the violence prevention program and the adult immunization program The violence prevention program delivered in schools to individual students is a relatively low-cost program with a large number of participants. This suggests that a randomized controlled trial (RCT) would be a good option for evaluating the effects of this program. An RCT would randomly assign students to either the intervention group or the control group. The intervention group would receive the violence prevention program, while the control group would not. The effects of the program would then be compared between the two groups. The adult immunization program is a more complex program with a smaller number of participants. This suggests that a cohort study would be a good option for evaluating the effects of this program. A cohort study would follow a group of adults over time, and the rates of immunization would be compared between those who received the intervention and those who did not. How to prove that a program had an effect The best way to prove that a program had an effect is to conduct a rigorous evaluation that uses a sound research design. The evaluation should be able to answer the following questions:
  • Was the program implemented as planned?
  • Did the program reach the intended target population?
  • Did the program have any effect on the desired outcomes?
If the evaluation can answer these questions in a convincing way, then it will be possible to prove that the program had an effect. Four criteria for assessing the rigor of qualitative studies The four criteria for assessing the rigor of qualitative studies are:
  • Credibility: The study should be credible, meaning that the findings should be believable and trustworthy.
  • Transferability: The findings should be transferable, meaning that they should be applicable to other settings or populations.
  • Dependability: The study should be dependable, meaning that the findings should be consistent over time.
  • Confirmability: The findings should be confirmable, meaning that they should be supported by the data.
How to address the four criteria in a plan for the outcome evaluation To address the four criteria in a plan for the outcome evaluation, the following steps can be taken:
  • Credibility: The study should be conducted by a qualified researcher who has experience with qualitative methods. The researcher should use a variety of data collection methods to ensure that the findings are credible.
  • Transferability: The study should be conducted in a setting that is similar to the setting where the program will be implemented. The researcher should also provide a detailed description of the setting and the participants so that the findings can be transferred to other settings.
  • Dependability: The researcher should keep a detailed research journal to document the research process. This will help to ensure that the findings are dependable and that the study can be replicated.
  • Confirmability: The researcher should use triangulation to confirm the findings. This means using multiple data sources and methods to collect data.
By following these steps, the researcher can increase the rigor of the qualitative study and provide more convincing evidence of the program's effects.

Sample Solution

Timing and budget constraints: The evaluation plan should be developed in a timely manner and within the budget constraints of the project

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