142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Development of an evaluation protocol for NAMI's Connection facilitator training program: A class project

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Marion S. Greene, MPH , Center for Health Policy, IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN
Macey Henderson, J.D. , Health Policy & Management, Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indianapolis, IN
ISSUES: The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. The Connection Recovery Support Group program, NAMI’s signature program, was designed for peer facilitators to encourage positive interaction and problem-solving among participants. Since the impact of the program on peer facilitators’ own recovery has never been formally tested, the purpose of this class project was to design an Evaluation Protocol to give NAMI Indiana, the state’s chapter, the tools to conduct a summative evaluation.

DESCRIPTION: For the Evaluation Protocol, we established these specific aims: (1) Develop a survey to assess recovery and quality-of-life outcomes among Connection peer facilitators; (2) Provide a data-analysis plan to direct analysis and interpretation of findings; and (3) Design a protocol, with recommendations and timelines, to guide the evaluation process.

LESSONS LEARNED: We developed an Evaluation Protocol to help NAMI Indiana assess the program’s impact on facilitators’ own recovery and to guide future evaluation processes. Evaluation findings will serve (a) as feedback to NAMI on the effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses of the Connection training workshops; (b) as a recruitment tool to engage additional peer facilitators; and (c) to potentially secure future program funding from federal or state level organizations.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The following recommendations were made to NAMI Indiana: Pilot-test the Facilitator Survey; evaluate outcome measures consistently and over time; adjust training program based on respondents’ answers; hire graduate student intern to assist with conducting the evaluation.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice

Learning Objectives:
Identify the steps involved in developing the evaluation protocol Explain the benefits of conducting an evaluation for the organization

Keyword(s): Evaluation, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have a MPH degree and have been working as an analyst for Indiana University for seven years. Furthermore, I'm a PhD student who completed the project described in the abstract as part of my PhD curriculum.
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.

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