Increasing long-term sustainability by building in-house capacity in evaluation: Lessons learned from 22 community/academic partnerships in 12 states


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

3180.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - 12:30 PM

Abstract #112021

Increasing long-term sustainability by building in-house capacity in evaluation: Lessons learned from 22 community/academic partnerships in 12 states

Fannie Fonseca-Becker, DrPH, Director, J&J Community HealthCare Scholars Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-659-6300, ffonseca@jhsph.edu

Background: Community health care organizations (CHCOs) serving medically underserved populations often lack the in-house capacity needed to evaluate their programs' outcomes. Having the in-house capacity for designing, conducting and presenting evaluation results can be a determining factor in a CHCO's long-term sustainability in this era of increased competition for limited funding. An innovate program that partners CHCOs and academia, with funding support from the Johnson & Johnson Community HealthCare Program, is helping bridge this evaluation gap by translating knowledge into practice.

Methods: CHCOs and doctoral students (guided and supervised by a faculty member) are paired for a period of two years to improve the CHCOs' capacity in monitoring and evaluation. In-house capacity is built using an evaluation methodology specifically developed to provide a standardized approach that can also be adapted to the needs of individual CHCOs.

Results: At the end of the two-year period, CHCO program staff are able to identify and organize into a conceptual framework those key variables needed to measure their program's outcomes. The CHCO staff also learned how to develop data collection tools, create a database,and analyze data with easy-to-use, free software, such as EPI INFO. The staff also develop skills for presenting data in a clear and concise manner. In addition, the doctoral students develop their skills in translating knowledge into practice in a scientifically sound and yet easy-to-understand and culturally appropriate manner.

Conclusions: CHCO/academic partnerships are effective in increasing the monitoring and evaluation capacity of organizations providing care to medically underserved populations.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to

3. List three components necessary for successful community/academic partnerships that aim to improve in-house capacity in the design
4. and implementation of program evaluation.
8. Describe the steps necessary to increase in-house capacity for program monitoring and evaluation.
12. Identify two major challenges that CHCOs face in the implementation of an evaluation plan.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Participatory Research

Related Web page: www.jhsph.edu/johnsonandjohnson/evaluation.html

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 commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation

Increasing Long-term Sustainability by Building in-house Capacity in Evaluation: Community/Academic Partnerships

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA