Planning the Program Evaluation
Identify methods of evaluation data collection. Background: In your previous assignments, you completed most steps of the general planning process in developing a community-based health promotion program. Specifically, you assessed the health needs of the community, chose a health focus and a target population to serve, developed the program mission, goals, and objectives, considered funding, budgets, and administrative tasks, designed the program intervention, and planned for program implementation. The next step in the planning process is designing the program evaluation plan. Program evaluation is an ongoing process that can serve many purposes related to improving a program and supporting its intended outcomes.
Some types of program evaluation can be conducted during the planning and implementation phases of the program. Other types of evaluation can be conducted after a program ends to determine its impact and establish outcomes. A robust program evaluation will include more than one type of evaluation. Although variations exist, evaluations usually follow a general process that includes: engaging stakeholders, describing the program, establishing the evaluation focus, and gathering, analyzing, and reporting data. The design and focus of the program evaluation should be guided by stakeholder input. Specifically, what do stakeholders want to know about the program?
Stakeholders need a consistent description of the program to inform their input. Based on the stakeholders’ input, evaluation questions are developed that will guide the rest of the evaluation design. The evaluation questions determine which types of evaluation are necessary and appropriate. All evaluations require the collection and analysis of data. Data collection and analysis must be carefully planned to ensure that all of the evaluation questions can be addressed. Plans should be made to communicate the results of the evaluation to program stakeholders and consideration given to the process of incorporating lessons learned from the evaluation.
