Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104237

Beverly F. Tremain, PhD, CHES, Public Health Consulting, 3802 North Bobwhite, Ozark, MO 65721, 417-485-3876, btremain@cebridge.net, Janet Canavese, BS, Missouri Institute for Community Health, 28538 Highway W, Smithton, MO 65350, Belinda Heimericks, BSN, MS, Missouri Nurses Association, P.O. Box 105228, 1904 Bubba Lane, Jefferson City, MO 65110, and Kathleen A. Wojciehowski, JD, MA, Center for Local Public Health Services, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, P.O. Box 570, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

Monitoring the public's health is an overwhelming feat for any size of community and requires reflection at a system level. For the Missouri Institute for Community Health (MICH), a voluntary accreditation program for local agencies was the first step in forming a system-level approach to public health. They did not stop there; process and impact evaluation of the accreditation program was part of the plan. Evaluation safeguards the administrator from tunnel vision, by providing a framework by which the agency can actually see itself, both its operation and its progress. In addition, the program has a built-in evaluation of MICH as an organization (process). Some of the administrators who participated in this program told MICH staff that changes occurred in their agencies from the time they reviewed the standards and throughout the entire process (e.g., staff sought more education and training, development of training logs). In this presentation, participants will hear how a process and impact evaluation was designed for the accreditation program, information about database development, question design, data collection methodologies and specific results gathered from the first six LPHAs to apply for and/or complete the program. The effort extended through an evaluation program has tremendous value to an organization. The evaluation program benefits MICH, LPHAs, and the Missouri public health infrastructure in many ways, but most importantly provides a mechanism to collect evidence-based practices to improve the system.

Learning Objectives: After attending this program, the participant will be able to

• identify the standards content used in the MICH Accreditation Program.
• Apply the terms process and impact evaluation to public health accreditation programs.
• identify 5 process evaluation "best practices" learned from local public health agencies throughout the first year.
• identify 5 impact evaluation "best practices" learned from local public health agencies throughout the first year.

Keywords: Essential Public Health Services, Accreditation

Related Web page: www.michweb.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commertial supporters WITH THE EXCEPTION OF I am a consultant for Missouri Institute for Community Health and am paid for my serives in setting up and administering the evaluation program..

Recorded presentation