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

Abstract #112604

Anh N. Tran, MPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, CB #7440, Rosenau Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, 919-451-1129, anhtran@email.unc.edu, Nathan D. Fearrington, MHS, Efland Community Center, 117 Richmond Road, Mebane, NC 27302, Guadalupe X. Ayala, PhD, MPH, Division of Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 9245 SkyPark Court, Suite 221, San Diego, CA 92123, Melvin Jackson, MSPH, Project DIRECT, Wake County Human Services, 219 S. East St., Raleigh, NC 27601, Jaime Montano, Chatham Social Health Council, PO Box 297, Pittsboro, NC 27312, and Eugenia Eng, DrPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina, CB #7440, Rosenau Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.

The Men as Navigators (MAN) for Health Project is a community-based participatory research project designed to improve men's health and health care utilization using a lay health advisor model. Intervention and evaluation activities are occurring with African-American and Latino men in three communities. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the process of creating the evaluation protocol and survey instrument in partnership with members from the three communities. Over a 9-month period, individual and joint meetings were held with members from each community and the academic evaluation team. Discussions with community members centered on the purpose of evaluation activities, anticipated changes in the men if this program were successful, how factors are manifested in men of color in their communities (e.g., how stress is manifested and the types of coping strategies employed), and feasible data collection methods. The academic evaluation team used information garnered from these meetings to guide selection of existing scales with the best psychometric properties and evidence of validity with men of color. Several survey versions were presented to the MAN steering committee for comparison and selection, revisions made and pilot tests completed. What emerged from these discussions is a survey instrument and evaluation protocol that attempts to capture the effects of male gender socialization and racism on men's health. Strategies were also identified for tracking program activities and qualitative changes in the male health advisors. This presentation will end with a discussion of the value and necessity of partnering with community to inform evaluation activities.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize potential benefits of collaborating with community partners to inform program evaluation activities.
• Describe two strategies to track program activities of lay health advisors.
• Articulate a possible plan of action for academic and community partners to jointly develop program survey instruments and/or evaluation protocol.

Keywords: Evaluation, Community Collaboration

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.