pink-book

• You will be able to give evidence of your
program and methods’ effectiveness. If
you want other organizations to use your
materials or program, you need to
demonstrate their value. An evaluation
report offers proof that the materials and
your program were carefully developed
and tested. This evidence will help you
explain why your materials or program may
be better than others, or what benefits an
organization could gain from using its time
and resources to implement your program.
• You will provide a formal record that will
help others. A comprehensive evaluation
report captures the institutional memory of
what was tried in the past and why, which
partners had strong skills or experience in
specific areas, and what problems were
encountered. Everything you learned
when evaluating your program will be
helpful to you or others planning
programs in the future.
How
Consider the Users
Before you write your evaluation, consider
who will read or use it. Write your report for
that audience. As you did when planning
your program components in Stage 1,
analyze your audiences for your report
before you begin to compose. To analyze
your audience, ask yourself the
following questions:
• Who are the audiences for this
evaluation report
— Public health program administrators
— Evaluators, epidemiologists,
researchers
— Funding agencies
— Policymakers
— Partner organizations
— Project staff
— The public
— The media
EVALUATION REPORT HELPS CIS
PROMOTE PROGRAM AREAS, STRENGTHS
NCI’s CIS used an evaluation report,
“Making a Difference,” to show its
partners, the research community,
NCI/CIS leadership, and the media that
its programs are effective. The
document both quantified CIS results
(e.g., making 100,000 referrals a year to
research studies, providing information
on breast cancer to 76,000 callers in
1996, providing information that
increased fruit and vegetable
consumption among callers) and put a
human face on the calling public.
Quotations from callers and leaders in
the cancer community illustrated the
personal impact of the service on
people’s lives and health.
The report was written in lay language
and used pullouts and simple charts to
explain statistics. Ideas for using the
report with regional partners, the
media, and community leaders were
included with the copies sent to each
CIS office. To maximize opportunities
for using the report, CIS has also made
it available on computer disk and as a
PowerPoint ® slide presentation.
• How much information will your
audience want
— The complete report
— An executive summary
— Selected sections of the report
• How will your audience use the
information in your report
— To refine a program or policy
— To evaluate your program’s performance
— To inform others
— To support advocacy efforts
— To plan future programs
STAGE 4
Making Health Communication Programs Work 119