Phase 5: Evaluation

Evaluation phase

The fifth phase of the Inclusive Healthy Communities Model is Evaluation, where you will integrate methods to help your community coalition (group of community members and partners that work together towards a common goal) track and measure the project's outcomes.

During the Evaluation Phase, it is important that you:

• Discuss and prioritize evaluation activities with the community coaches and community coalition members from the onset of the project.
• Plan for evaluation activities to occur at intermittent frequency throughout the project period.

WHY this phase is important

Periodically assessing your project activities helps ensure that your community coalition is effectively executing its inclusive policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. Evaluation can help you identify areas for improvement and track progress towards the realization of your goals. Evaluation helps to determine if your work is on track (i.e., are you implementing the right strategies, are you achieving the measurable impact envisioned).

WHAT activities take place during this phase

1. It is beneficial to establish a schedule early in your project for evaluation, so that you can plan how often activities will occur. This enables you to obtain baseline data and see your project's progress over time. There are several national surveys and resources that collect and provide data on people with disabilities to help you understand the health needs of this population in your community (e.g., Disability and Health Data System, U.S Census Bureau).
2. Evaluation activities will initially focus on the process measures related to community coalition development and maintenance, community health assessment, and community action plan development.
3. As you begin implementation, you can then capture outcome measures from your policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes to help build an inclusive healthy community for all residents.
4. Review the data that you capture for each evaluation activity with your community coalition, adjusting activities as needed. By integrating evaluation throughout the project period, you will be able to adjust your course of action and make improvements at any point.

WHO in the community needs to be involved

If resources allow, you may hire an evaluator or access evaluation expertise through a state university (e.g., University Centers for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities) or one of your community coalition members. If not, the community coaches often oversee the project evaluation activities. It is important that the whole community coalition understands the evaluation activities that you plan to undertake and are always involved in reviewing the results and adjusting the project, as warranted by the data.