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Session Title: An Ounce of Prevention: Practical Approaches to Evaluating Community Health Initiatives
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Panel Session 670 to be held in El Capitan A on Friday, Nov 4, 1:35 PM to 2:20 PM
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Sponsored by the Health Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Jill Lipski Cain, The Improve Group, jill@theimprovegroup.com
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| Abstract:
In this session, two evaluators from the Improve Group, Inc. will share instruments and evaluation processes they developed to evaluate community-wide health prevention programs funded by Minnesota's Statewide Health Improvement Program, designed by the State in 2008 to reduce the leading causes of death and chronic disease: obesity and tobacco use. Presenters will describe the goals and parameters of the evaluations, the tools and methods we designed, and lessons learned about the methods. In addition, the kinds of analysis and findings that these tools can support will also be explored. Presentation and discussion will focus on the opportunities, challenges, considerations and limitations associated with these methods. Attendees will be invited to share their own experiences, observations and suggestions in evaluating health prevention programs through a facilitated panel discussion.
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Using Case Studies to Develop a Broader Understanding of Community Impact
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| Stacy Johnson, The Improve Group, stacyj@theimprovegroup.com
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This session explores how case studies can be used to document outcomes in health prevention programs. The presenter will share her experiences selecting case study sites, designing instruments, collecting data and creating case study reports. The case studies were used in the evaluations of Minnesota's Statewide Health Improvement Program grants in rural Faribault, Martin and Watonwan Counties and in the City of Minneapolis. From 2009 to 2011, the agencies worked with schools, community organizations, healthcare facilities and worksites to make systems, policies and environmental changes to improve the health of citizens. In this two-year period, some organizations made huge strides while others faced significant challenges getting work off the ground. The agencies embarked on the case study process to document program successes and lessons learned, and inform other agencies doing similar work across the nation. Presenters will share data collection tools created for the project, and final case study reports.
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Evaluating Bike Racks, One Biker at a Time: Measuring Health Behavior Changes That Follow Systems, Policy and Environment Changes
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| Elizabeth Radel Freeman, The Improve Group, lizf@theimprovegroup.com
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By making changes to health policies, systems and environments, public health advocates aspire to make the healthy choice the easy choice for citizens. Evaluators are charged with showing whether people actually do make the "healthy choice." This presentation shares techniques for gathering health behavior data from communities that have experienced a change in policy, systems, and/or environments to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Attendees will review several surveys and interview protocols created to capture behavior changes for those using community gardens, food shelves, bike racks, and other health amenities. The methods presented were developed for the evaluation of suburban Dakota County's Statewide Health Improvement Program, an intervention aimed at helping promoting policy, system and environmental changes to reduce the burden of chronic disease in Minnesota.
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