A systematic approach for evaluating health related programs: Adaptation for community-based participatory research and clinical application to reduce cancer health disparities

The need for evaluation and accountability of public health programs has never been greater since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) launched its Healthy People 2000 and then Healthy People 2010 national initiatives to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Year 2000 came and went without much dent in the level of such disparities in the U.S., and without adequate mechanisms for collecting data necessary to measure the effectiveness of public health programs designed to accomplish the objectives. As we approach Year 2010, public health agencies and other organizations must be prepared to account for the millions of dollars already spent in this effort to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in America. A systematic approach for evaluating health related programs will be presented. The cyclical nature of the approach and inherent steps for planning and implementing this approach will be discussed. In focusing on program evaluation, this approach uses logic models to directly link variables of interest and core data elements to specific research questions, program objectives and measures of program effectiveness. Adaptation of the methodology for evaluation of clinical and community-based participatory research programs will be illustrated by three research programs funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to reduce cancer health disparities in various communities throughout the country.