"Evaluation is an essential tool for project/program management," [35]. However, it should not be the end point of a project/program but a part of an ongoing improvement process. [13] As discussed in Phase 2 Think & Plan, planning for evaluation begins with the initial planning for your project/program.
When planning your evaluation you may need to consider the following points:
A combination of two types of evaluation methods can be used:
You will need to decide what you are going to measure so you know how to gather the information needed, what you will measure links with and what you need to assess progress towards your goals and objectives.
Listed below are some examples of how you can measure aspects of your program:
Process evaluation measures the actions of delivering the project/program and whether or not you are undertaking the strategies you set out to do. It includes:
It is really important to continually evaluate and analyse as you implement the project/program. If you are not reaching your target group you will not be able to expect any impact (change in knowledge, attitudes, skills or policy) or outcome (reduction in child injuries). Therefore you will need to review how your project/program is reaching the community and what the community thinks of it. How you measure this could include, ongoing monitoring and documentation of the project/program [41] (eg. resources, risk and barriers, decision making processes, issues register etc - process logs).
Impact evaluation is the measurement of how a project/program has changed:
It also determines whether the project/program objectives have been achieved. (eg. 20% of the target group in Gum Tree City Council have installed smoke alarms as a result of the door knock by the Fire Department). [28] [38] [47]
It is important that you can measure if any changes are a result of your project /program and not other influences. Getting a baseline before any education session training or advertising commences is vital so you can compare the differences in the information collected after the strategy has been implemented.
This can be measured by:
Outcome evaluation is the process of measuring the long term effects of the program/project by observing whether your program has met it's goal of reducing child injury, deaths (mortality) and disabilities (morbidity).[28] [47 ]
Other outcome measures can also be considered, such as a reduction in health care costs or improvements in the environment. Outcome evaluation is measured at the completion of the project and can be followed up in one, two or five years [4] or for ongoing programs it can be measured regularly on an ongoing basis. (eg. there was a reduction in fatal house fires as a result of the install a smoke alarm program in Gum Tree City Council. This saved $950,000 in emergency services costs).
This could be measured by:
The evaluation of your project/program will provide valuable information about what worked and what did not. This is important to share with your target group, key stakeholders and others. You will need to consider ways you can communicate project/program results and learnings with others. This includes project updates, newsletter articles, holding a forum, submitting to present at a conference. You can also add to the evidence by writing and submitting an article to a peer reviewed journal.
It is also important to celebrate the positive aspects of the project/program and the contribution of others. Remember "Success breeds success, so when you have a win be sure to celebrate" [47] (eg. hold a morning tea to announce a significant project/program achievement and thank working group members and key stakeholders for their contribution). [28]
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