Health educators in professional settings are often confronted with conflicting messages regarding evaluation. Both their professional training and the program sponsor tell them they must evaluate the impact of the program. The sponsor then communicates a low value on evaluation by providing very limited funding. Evaluation specialists tell them it is impossible to conduct a valid and meaningful evaluation without more money and time than available, and that any evaluation that can be conducted within the budget and time frame will be riddled with threats to internal validity (will be useless). These conflicting messages, sometimes combined with limited evaluation experience, create a very discouraging situation for health educators. The purpose of this paper is to discuss evaluation challenges and strategies in cases where the program has big goals and a small budget. Examples will be drawn from our struggle and experience with developing evaluation strategies for a series of programs intended to improve collaboration and develop partnerships between providers and families with children who have special health care needs. The programs varied in length, content and process. They were all very ambitious and most included a train-the-trainer component in hope of facilitating community change. Our attempts at, and successes and failures with, conducting evaluations intended to yield the most valid and meaningful findings possible in the face of scarce funding will be discussed. The use of both qualitative and quantitative strategies and the benefits of different models of evaluation will be discussed among with implications for diverse programs.
Learning Objectives: After participating in this session, participants will be able to: (1) discuss strategies for optimal use of limited funds for evaluation and (2) identify ways to prioritize evaluation purposes
Keywords: Evaluation, Underserved Populations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.