The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68164

Margaret Cannon, MPH¹, Robert J. Letourneau, MPH¹, Carolyn E. Crump, PhD², and Sean M. Hanley, MPH Candidate². (1) Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, CB#7506, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7506, 919-966-9768, mcannon@email.unc.edu, (2) Department of Health Behavior & Health Education, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, CB#7506, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7506

This presentation will describe data collection methods and provide descriptive results from a monitoring system developed by University of North Carolina (UNC) faculty/staff to assess progress of 25 Tribes/Tribal Organizations funded in 2000 by the Indian Health Service Tribal Injury Prevention Cooperative Agreements Program (TIPCAP) to develop, implement, and evaluate community-based injury prevention (IP) activities. To assess site progress (e.g., during conference calls, site visits, and review of reporting documents), tailor technical assistance (TA), and document increased capacity for IP, UNC faculty/staff developed a monitoring system based on a conceptual framework with five dimensions: 1) intervention effectiveness; 2) program management effectiveness; 3) program support; 4) perception of skills; and 5) contextual information. Information is annually abstracted from multiple data sources (i.e., site visit and conference call summaries, quarterly progress reports, annual continuation applications, and surveys). Results for Years I-II (2000-2002) of TIPCAP will describe the 25 Tribal IP Programs across the five dimensions, including: injury issues addressed; intervention approaches used; collaborations established; evaluation activities conducted; coalitions formed; data collection conducted; marketing/advocacy completed; training/support obtained; coordinator skill levels; and other contextual information. Information about the most often addressed injury concerns (i.e., information about intervention effectiveness) will be specifically highlighted. Limitations to maintaining the monitoring system (e.g., quality of data, data entry time,) will be discussed. Implications for long-term use of the framework include: 1) providing evidence of effectiveness of TIPCAP IP activities; 2) identifying ways IHS can improve the frequency and quality of support; and 3) illustrating future TIPCAP improvements.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the participant will be able to:
• Describe the system used to monitor 25 Tribal injury prevention programs.
• List activities conducted by 25 TIPCAP sites during years I and II of the program.
• Identify uses, challenges, and limitations of a system to monitor and assess capacity of local-level injury prevention programs.

Keywords: Evaluation, Injury Prevention

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: Authors are funded by the Indian Health Service to summarize results of the 25 tribes described in presentation.