Evaluating systems-level changes initiated by community health workers: An evaluability assessment for the Office on Women's Health Women's Health Leadership Institute

This project developed evaluation plans to assess the extent to which approximately 400 CHWs trained by the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) Women’s Health Leadership Institute (WHLI) implemented strategies for systems-level changes in public health. WHLI training resulted in CHW skills/competencies in systemic thinking, challenging processes and mastering change, shared vision and collective action, strengthening collective capacity for action, and building leadership; and Community Action Project plans to implement system-level changes.  An evaluability assessment was conducted to determine parameters for the longer-term evaluation, utilizing collaborative approaches guided by CDC’s Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health.  One co-author/co-presenter is a CHW/Master CHW Trainer, and was a member of the plan development and site visit teams. She was involved in the initial site visits and interviews with curriculum specialists, evaluators, CHWs, and master trainers; and in the conceptualization and design phases. The resulting evaluation plans are designed to measure the implementation and outcomes of systems-level public health changes initiated by WHLI-trained CHWs.  CHWs and trainers provided input on: logic models; culturally and linguistically appropriate measures and methods;  approaches for analyzing and interpreting findings;  dissemination strategies; and opportunities and challenges for the planned evaluation. Participatory approaches ensured that OWH’s, WHLI’s, CHWs’, and other stakeholders’ needs were met. Site visits and interviews resulted in perceptions of impact on communities served by WHLI-trained CHWs;  WHLI’s value relative to other CHW training initiatives; policy developments and other systems changes made by WHLI-trained CHWs; the status of partnership building; and indicators of improved health outcomes.