The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48966

Debra J. Holden, PhD¹, W. Douglas Evans, PhD², Peter Messeri, PhD³, W. David Austin, MPH¹, Laurie W. Hinnant, MS⁴, and Terry Mason, PhD⁵. (1) Health, Social, and Economics Research, RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Rd., P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 027709-2194, 919/541-6491, debra@rti.org, (2) Research and Evaluation, Prospect Associates, Ltd, 10720 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20901, (3) American Legacy Foundation, 1001 G Street, Suite 800, washington, DC 20001, (4) Health, Social, and Economics Research, Research Triangle Institute, 3040 Cornwallis Rd., P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194, (5) Abt Associates, Inc., 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138

The Statewide Youth Movement Against Tobacco Initiative was funded by the American Legacy Foundation in an effort to address tobacco prevention and control through the direct involvement of youth. The goal of the program is to create statewide coalitions that work to implement tobacco control initiatives through the leadership of youth in groups at local, regional, and state levels. All of these efforts are to be 'youth led and youth driven', through the empowerment of involved youth. The national evaluation of this Program includes two types of studies: a cross-site study that collects common data elements across all of the program grantees; and an in-depth case study to collect qualitative information from selected sites, in hopes of informing program development and understanding the context within which these youth groups operate. Our Evaluation Team initially developed a conceptual framework for youth empowerment, the primary project outcome, by conducting an extensive literature review, convening and working with an expert Youth Empowerment Work Group, and informally interviewing program staff in the states and at Legacy. This conceptual framework was used to provide guidance for the development of an evaluation plan requiring data collection at four levels: individual; program; youth group; and, community. Two survey instruments, one administered to involved youth and another to youth group adult coordinators were developed and tested to measure program outcomes at the group level. This presentation will focus on the complex evaluation planning process undertaken for this project and expected outcomes from the ongoing data collection and analysis.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the complexity of measuring ‘empowerment’ and the different levels of measures that to consider in evaluation planning;
• To learn about the evaluation planning tools utilized in this process and receive copies of the two instruments used to measure program outcomes.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: employment