Evaluation Strategies:

As you monitor and assess interventions include evaluation strategies that look both at the community planning process as well as intervention outcomes.

Process evaluation: Looks at the objectives and work plan your community has developed and compares these with what is happening while the program is ongoing. Process evaluation assesses the quality and appropriateness of the interventions, response of participants to interventions/programs and overall progress on activities. As part of a process evaluation consider the following:
Coverage:
Is the intended target group participating?
Finances:
Are funds being used properly and according to guidelines?
Activities:
Are the planned activities being delivered and are they being delivered correctly?

Outcome evaluation: Assesses the effect of the interventions - changes in behavior, attitudes, and knowledge. Program effectiveness can generally be measured by conducting an impact and/or outcome evaluation. Generally an outcome evaluation assesses long-term effects, such as changes in health status, while impact evaluations focus on short-term effects, such as attendance levels or specific policies instituted. As part of a short-term outcome evaluation consider the following:
Behavior:
Changes in behaviors, indicators of readiness to change, and knowledge and attitudes among program participants.
Policies:
Changes in policies, laws, or rules that are supportive of healthy eating and active living.
Social or physical environment:
Changes in the social or physical environment that is supportive of healthy eating and active living.

Process and Outcome evaluations can include a variety of quantitative and qualitative information such as:

• The number of activities completed, sessions provided, and participants attending.
• Demographics of the participants and the number of participants completing the activity.
• The number of work plans developed and intervention products produced.
• The number and types of activities undertaken to achieve changes in policies, practices, or environmental factors.
• Feedback from staff, participants, and volunteers.
• Logs kept by participants.
• Minutes of meetings
• Information from focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires.

Provided as supplemental material to illustrate an evaluation report framework as well as suggested questions to support both a process and outcome evaluation are included in:

Evaluation Report Framework