EVALUATION PROPOSAL

Social Work Process/Outcome Evaluation Proposal



Abstract

In this paper we discuss the evaluation of a particular type of health promotion program where social change is a central theme of program development, implementation and evaluation. Evaluation of social change program requires a politics of accountability and a utilization focus. These require a process of planning evaluations that mirrors the process of program planning and implementation. Such an approach must be open to the possibility that the demands on evaluation research may change over the lifecycle of the program. We propose an evaluability assessment framework as a participatory tool for planning evaluations that meet the need for credible evaluative accounts of social change and contribute to social change. This framework is a tool that can be used at any time to plan and review evaluations.

Social Work Process/Outcome Evaluation Proposal

Introduction

In this paper we discuss the evaluation of a particular type of health promotion program where social change is a central theme of program development, implementation and evaluation. These programs are often rooted in principles of social justice and equity. Like all health promotion practice, social change program are in need of evaluation both to provide evidence that they benefit populations in meaningful ways and as a means to advance knowledge in the field (McQueen, 2001; Potvin et al., 2001; World Health Organization Working Group on Health Promotion Evaluation, 1998). The approaches to evaluation research and the methods adopted, however, must be relevant to the work of health promotion (Rootman et al., 2001). One of the tenets of social change-oriented health promotion is that the people affected by a program collaborate with health promotion professionals or experts in development and implementation of that program (Fawcett et al., 1995; Hancock et al., 1997).

The term empowerment is commonly associated with the process of participation. Wallerstein (1993: 219), for instance, defined community empowerment as 'a social action process that promotes participation of people, who are in positions of perceived and actual powerlessness, towards goals of increased individual and community decision-making and control, equity of resources, and improved quality of life'. Participation is an important aspect of evaluation planning as well as program planning. Decisions about who participates and how are influenced by the program context and by the expectation that the evaluation of health promotion contributes to social change while producing meaningful reports.

Literature Review

Social Change program

At the outset, we distinguish a program as an organized set of activities and/or services aimed at modifying a problematic situation that affects segments of a population. Both state and civil society organizations may institute program.

A social change program - like any program - can therefore be described in terms of the goals and objectives or ends intended, the activities carried out and the resources required achieving these ends (Potvin et al., 2001). Social change clearly does not depend solely on programmes; for instance, social movements are potent leverages for social changes (Castells, 1997) that have both no programmatic and programmatic components. The women's movement is characterized as beginning around ...