The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69850

Clarissa Hsu, PhD¹, Pamela M. Schwartz, MPH², Rhonda Sarnoff, DrPH, MSPH³, and David Pearson, PhD¹. (1) Center for Community Health and Evaluation, Group Health Community Foundation, 1730 Minor Avenue, Suite 1500, Seattle, WA 98101, (206) 287-4691, hsu.c@ghc.org, (2) Center for Community Health and Evaluation, Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, One Kaiser Plaza, 22nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, (3) Partnership for the Public's Health, California Public Health Institute, 505 14th St., Oakland, CA 94612

The Partnership for the Public’s Health (PPH) Initiative is an ambitious project that has partnered 14 health departments with 39 community groups across the state of California. The PPH Initiative is aimed at fostering community-based public health by building the capacities needed for health departments and community groups to work together toward mutually agreed upon goals. The approach used by the PPH Initiative encourages each of the 39 partnerships to develop community driven goals and strategies designed to lead toward health improvement in their community. A participatory evaluation design was chosen to capture the diversity of experiences and achievements resulting from the 39 partnerships as they work towards accomplishing individually defined goals. All the aspects of the PPH Initiative that make it exciting and innovative also pose significant challenges for cross-site, participatory evaluation.

This presentation will describe the techniques employed to collect data across the 39 PPH Initiative sites, focusing on the challenges and lessons learned of implementing a participatory evaluation in a diverse, multi-site initiative with multiple stakeholders. Several specific issues that will be addressed are: 1) the challenges that arise when applying participatory evaluation model across multiple and diverse sites, 2) the logistics of working with a team of local evaluators, and 3) the challenges raised in assessing change in partnerships that started with different levels of readiness to carry out collaborative work.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation the participants will be able to:
• Identify 3-5 techniques for conducting evaluation activities across a large number of diverse implementation sites
• Describe the challenges and lessons learned regarding the assessment of progress in the PPH Initiative.
• Describe the challenges and lessons learned when employing a participatory evaluation model across multiple sites.

Keywords: Community-Based Public Health, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Partnership for the Public's Health Initiative
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Paid through an evaluation contract with the Partnership for the Public's Health Initiative