HILLS, D. (2004) Evaluation strategies for community-level health projects: a review of best practice, London, Health Development Agency.

This report provides an overview of the best evaluation strategies for community-level health interventions. It was the key output from a review commissioned by the Health Development Agency (HDA) which sought to:

• Bring together current knowledge about different approaches to the evaluation of community-based programmes
• Identify recent innovations and promising examples
• Begin to identify what constitutes quality in the principles of evaluation design, so as to inform and encourage robust contributions to the emerging evidence base.

Project Team: Dione Hills (project leader), Vicky Blackburn

Context

The growing popularity of community level health intervention activities in late 1990/early 2000’s led to a need to find new, and appropriate, evaluation methods in order to develop a sound evidence base for work of this kind.

Objectives

To bring together current knowledge and provide guidance and examples of best practice in the evaluation of community-based programmes for improving health and wellbeing.

Methodology

The review was undertaken via a search of key sources, including electronic databases, journals and websites, focusing on British literature but incorporating innovative international examples where appropriate. The findings were discussed by an Expert Seminar, bringing together key evaluators and researchers working in the field, to identify key issues related to evaluation quality in this field.

Impact

The report was initially published by the Health Development Agency, then transferred to the  NICE (National institute for Clinical Excellence) website, where it has been read by both researchers and individuals and organisations working in the community health field.