If the success of a coalition with a mission to change state-level health policies were measured only by the number or quantity of policies ushered to the point of enactment, coalitions may not be seen as effective means for changing laws and improving the lives of individuals. We compare these kinds of “count” outcomes as measures of success to potentially more useful intermediate markers of success as measured with both qualitative and quantitative data. We examine data from the first four-year period of the R.W. Johnson Foundation’s Reducing Underage Drinking through Coalitions Project involving 12 coalitions around the U.S. and Puerto Rico. We describe data collection methods that measure the process and outcomes of the project and findings from analyses of these diverse data. We place additional emphasis on how our techniques might be applied to various programs aimed at changing the social environment through health policy and on the challenges encountered in evaluating large-scale coalition projects. See www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants should be able to: 1) describe limitations of using only outcome data to measure success; 2) understand a variety of process evaluation techniques useful in evaluating coalition efforts; and 3) recognize the challenges in evaluating large-scale coalition projects.
Keywords: Coalition, Evaluation
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: University of Minnesota
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.