Projects funded assessment
This component focuses on assessing the effect of all projects funded, including process measures that cover how the project has been operating. While all grant recipients should be required to evaluate, the system needs to be such that those receiving small grants will submit basic information while recipients of larger grants will provide more comprehensive details.
All projects
All individual projects should be required to return information which can be pooled to establish a core set of standard descriptive data. This may be completed using a self-report evaluation form. Useful data include:
- population reach;
- educational activities implemented;
- healthier environments introduced;
- resources produced and/or distributed;
- record of media activity; and
- involvement of the target group in planning and implementation.
Data collection methods
Data may be collected using a standard form that is sent to all organizations when they receive funding with instructions to return it at the end of the project. General questions may also be included on the form, such as:
- What were the main objectives of the project?
- Were the strategies successful in achieving the objectives? Why or why not?
- Which were the most and least successful strategies?
This additional information can enable the funding agency to find out more about the process of project implementation at the local level and identify some of the difficulties that may be encountered, particularly by community groups that may be new to health promotion. While all grant recipients should return the core data, those receiving larger grants should be required to report more fully on the impact of the grant.
The funding agency will need to determine at what financial level the recipient organization should undertake impact evaluation in addition to submitting only the core data. It is suggested that for all grants of more than USD 30,000, an impact evaluation should be required.
Larger projects
Impact evaluations to be carried out by those receiving larger grants, as identified by the funding agency, may be implemented through pre- and post-surveys of the primary target group. This will involve random samples of those participating in a programme to measure awareness of the health issue(s) and exposure to the different components of the programme, as well as changes in knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviour.
In most cases, the responsibility for conducting the impact evaluation will lie with the personnel who have been contracted to run the project. In some cases, however, with very large grants, the funding agency may wish to commission external evaluators to undertake this work.
This evaluation component is important because, even if the funding agency is unable to demonstrate changes in behaviour at the population level over time, it will be able to show changes in the main target groups at the level of specific programmes. There is a greater likelihood of achieving a measurable impact upon knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in groups directly exposed to health promotion projects and other activities through specific programmes where the intervention can be clearly described, than in the population as a whole.
Reference
World Health Organization. (2004). The establishment and use of dedicated taxes for health. World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific.