263562 Evaluation of a school awards program: Impact of recognition on policy development

Monday, October 29, 2012

Deanna Rossi, MPH , California Breathing, Environmental Health Investigations Branch, Impact Assessment Inc., (contractor to the California Department of Public Health), Richmond, CA
Scott Kessler , California Breathing, Impact Assessment Inc. (Contractor to the California Department of Public Health), Richmond, CA
Background: Approximately 1 of 7 school-aged children in California has asthma. The California Department of Public Health asthma program and its partners have implemented numerous strategies to encourage schools to initiate policies to improve their indoor air quality (IAQ) and foster effective asthma management for students. For the past three years, the Achievement In Respiratory (AIR) Health Awards have recognized schools and districts for taking steps towards these goals, which potentially encourages other schools to undertake similar actions. The AIR Health Awards offer small monetary awards and public recognition. They potentially are a low cost incentive to implement IAQ policies.

Purpose: To evaluate the AIR Health Awards to determine if they: (1) encourage schools, working towards implementing policies that protect people with asthma, to further their efforts, and (2) influence other schools to implement new policies. Significance: As public health funding declines, it is important to evaluate programs and ensure that the most cost-efficient interventions are implemented or stopped.

Methods: The asthma program follows the CDC framework for evaluation. A team of stakeholders including a school nurse, principal and facility manager participated in designing the evaluation. The team developed a logic model to identify potential outcomes associated with the awards and prioritize evaluation questions. In the coming months, data will be collected through surveys and interviews with school and district personnel.

Conclusions: The evaluation will result in recommendations to continue, modify, or end the award program and will inform the asthma program and others with interest in implementing similar initiatives.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Describe how to implement an awards program for schools and districts addressing asthma and air quality Describe the CDC model for program evaluation Demonstrate how to engage stakeholders in the entire evaluation process Discuss how California considers evaluation data to modify and build its programming

Keywords: Asthma, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been associate director of California Breathin asthma program of the California Department of Public Health for 5 years. The previous 3 years I led our school based asthma programs. I am a member of the American Evaluation Association and lead program evaluation for California Breathing. My interests are in environmental health and disparities. I earned an MPH in Nutrition from New York University. I have published in a peer reviewed journal.
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.

Back to: 3297.2: Schools and Student Health