The Practice of Health Program Evaluation

As more and more money is spent developing programs and services to solve health problems how can one know if a specific health program works or what it would take to improve it? Aimed at addressing this issue The Practice of Health Program Evaluation provides readers with the methods to evaluate health programs and the expertise to navigate the political terrain so as to work more effectively with decision makers and other groups. To convey these principles Grembowski uses the metaphor of evaluation being a three-act play with a variety of actors and interest groups each having a role that involves entering and exiting the stage at different points in the evaluation process. The first section (Act I) shows evaluators how to work with decision makers and other groups to define the question they want answered about a program and how to develop evaluation questions. Act II covers the methods for selecting among one or more evaluation designs (experimental and quasi-experimental designs program implementation sample size measurement and cost-effectiveness analysis) to answer questions about the program. And Act III covers the use of the answers including methods for developing formal dissemination plans factors that influence whether evaluation findings are used or not and major challenges facing the discipline in the next decade. Through the use of relevant examples and the explanation of each step this book will enable readers to apply research methods in the practice of health evaluation.