Evaluation of CQI Traning
Effective program evaluation is a systematic way to improve and account for public health actions by involving procedures that are useful, feasible, ethical, and accurate. The framework guides public health professionals in their use of program evaluation. It is a practical, nonprescriptive tool, designed to summarize and organize essential elements of program evaluation.
Conducting a strong needs assessment is the foundation for developing a successful prevention plan. The Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Data-Informed Decisions Working Group has designed this review sheet to support addressing data gaps through primary data collection. It provides several methods and select resources as a starting point for prevention team’s planning. These methods can involve varied means of data collection, including oral narratives, written text, photographs, video, and others.
Before conducting any focus groups or key informant interviews, it is important to decide what information you would like to obtain from your qualitative methods. The objective of collecting these qualitative data is to identify the most relevant contributing factors in your community. Based on the information you’d like to obtain, you can create questions. Here are some sample questions you may use. Remember that these are only suggestions – feel free to adjust, discard or add any questions to adapt your qualitative methods to your specific community.
Assessment is the first step in the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF).
As your community coalition is getting started or re-energizing, you may be thinking, “who is missing from the table?” or “who do we need to invite the next time we meet”?
Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) Step 1, Assessment, involves conducting a needs assessment to identify a) the nature and extent of substance use problems and related behaviors in the community (what you will prioritize; b) the risk and protective factors that influence or contribute to these substance use problems and related behavior (which may be different from community to community); and c) the existing resources and readiness of the community to address its substance use problems (where you are focusing your prevention efforts).
Asset mapping provides information about the strengths and resources of a community and can help uncover solutions. Once community strengths and resources are inventoried and depicted in a map, you can more easily think about how to build on these assets to address community needs and improve health. Finally, asset mapping promotes community involvement, ownership, and empowerment.
Data Collection Worksheet Additional Data to Collect – Needs Assessment Data
Before conducting a community assessment, it is important to identify the key individual and organizational stakeholders, and what skills and community resources they bring to the assessment.