6001.0: Thursday, November 16, 2000 - 9:42 AM

Abstract #6933

Examining the role of formative feedback in a coalition evaluation

Eileen M. Harwood, PhD and Alexander C. Wagenaar, PhD. School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454, 612-626-1824, harwood@epi.umn.edu

Evaluation data from large-scale, multi-site coalition projects can be reserved for purposes of research and funding agency reports or it can be shared with coalition staff and coordinators throughout the life of the project to enhance the success or impact of the collective project efforts. For those who manage large, multi-site projects, evaluation data can strengthen their ability to intervene or guide the project or individual sites in more productive directions. For individual site directors and leaders, site-specific and project-wide assessments of goal-oriented activities provides useful short- and long-term strategic planning tools.

This session will look at the value and potential detriments of providing periodic feedback of evaluation data to project sites under evaluation. On this issue, you will hear perspectives of evaluators, the national program officers, and site directors of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Reducing Underage Drinking Through Coalitions (the RUD Project). We will examine the evolution of a specific evaluation process as it continues to meet the changing conditions of the RUD project. The evaluation methodology for this project is both qualitative and quantitative and, in the past, only yearly reports were submitted to the funding agency. However, after listening to the concerns of the project's National Program Office and the site directors, the evaluation team designed a simple feedback form that is sent out every 2 or 3 months with consequences for players at all levels of the project.

Learning Objectives: This session will look at the value and potential detriments of providing periodic feedback of evaluation data to project coalitions under evaluation. We will examine the evolution of a specific evaluation process as it continues to meet the changing conditions of the Reducing Underage Drinking coalition project

Keywords: Evaluation, Coalition

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.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA