214268 A Partnership for Dekalb County Active Seniors: Planning a Community Based Participatory Evaluation of Health Promotion Programs

Monday, November 8, 2010

Dionne C. Godette, PhD , Department of Health Promotion & Behavior, University of Georgia, College of Public Health, Athens, GA
Diadrey-Anne Sealy , Health Promotion & Behavior, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Elayne Hunter , The Lou Walker Senior Center, The Dekalb County Human Development Department, Lithonia, GA
Issues: The Lou Walker Senior Center (LWSC) is a multipurpose community facility serving a community of identity defined as active senior adults aged 55 and older in Dekalb County, GA. LWSC is located in an area of the county that is densely populated by black residents. Minority seniors are most vulnerable to health inequities because their baseline health status lags far behind non-minority groups; as a result, it is important to evaluate the innovative programming implemented by the LWSC for the purposes of improving health and social well-being of its members. Description: This presentation describes the 2 – year planning process for a participatory evaluation between the Dekalb County Human Development department that operates the LWSC, center members, and the University of Georgia College of Public Health. The process for encouraging: (1) dialogue between all of the stakeholders, (2) goal setting, (3) participation and (4) an empowered defined community will be discussed. Lessons Learned: In order to plan a strong participatory evaluation, there must be buy-in from stakeholders. Additionally, the development of evaluation indicators that are meaningful to center members and staff is critical and piloting data collection instruments and techniques is crucial. Further, the process of bringing together different agendas from members of the potential evaluation team is long and designating a facilitator for this process was key. Recommendations: Next steps in this planning process include: (1) collaboratively finding and obtaining diverse sources of funding for sustained evaluation activities and (2) providing stakeholders with appropriate training for evaluation activities.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
-Describe an innovative health promotion program for active seniors. -Discuss the process of planning a community-based participatory evaluation of health promotion programming at a multi-purpose facility for adults aged 55 and older.

Keywords: Aging, Community-Based Partnership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have an advanced degree and experience in health behavior and health education/health promotion. I am also the principal investigator of the project referenced in the abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.