At a glance
To meet the growing need for program evaluation training, the CDC National Asthma Control Program has developed a series of resources.
Evaluation Textbook
Evaluation and evidence-informed decision making are central to public health practice. In recent decades, the professional discipline of evaluation has experienced tremendous growth that can be leveraged for use in public health. To meet the growing need for program evaluation training, the National Asthma Control Program presents the e-textbook Planting the Seeds for High-Quality Program Evaluation in Public Health.
This free e-textbook is designed to help public health students and professionals understand evaluation approaches and techniques to improve public health programs.
Evaluation Guide
Learning & Growing through Evaluation: Modules 1-6
For more than a decade, asthma programs have used the Learning and Growing guide to ensure that programmatic resources are used effectively, efficiently, and in service of health equity; to help demonstrate the value of their programs; and to develop a body of knowledge about what works in asthma control.
Updates to the guide share new research, insights, and content. The guide will be useful to novice and skilled evaluators and other asthma program staff and stakeholders.
Webinar Series
Nationally recognized experts present an introduction to program evaluation; note challenges in conducting useful evaluations and methods for overcoming those challenges; and introduce the six steps of the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation using examples that are relevant to state partners of the National Asthma Control Program.
Evaluation Briefs
Learning & Growing through Evaluation: Briefs
Evaluation briefs provide concise updates to the Learning and Growing Guide.
Additional Evaluation Resources
To respond to persistent disparities in health outcomes, the public health workforce must have the sensitivity and flexibility to work effectively in diverse contexts. Similarly, evaluation of programs requires a culturally responsive approach. To that end, the National Asthma Control Program, in partnership with the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, developed Practical Strategies for Culturally Competent Evaluation. This guide and accompanying tip sheet highlight opportunities for integrating cultural competence throughout the six steps of the CDC evaluation process.
Virtually all evaluation guidance materials stress the need for good evaluation questions, yet the evaluation literature generally has provided only broad guidance on developing them. To help get to good questions–questions that are likely to lead to actionable evaluation findings–we created a checklist for use in assessing potential evaluation questions. The list is grounded in the evaluation literature and has benefitted from the practice wisdom of many evaluators inside and out of CDC. Contact Maureen Wilce for a list of references: muw9@cdc.gov.
With ever-growing diversity in the United States, cultural competence for all public health programs is an ethical imperative. The Cultural Competence Assessment Tool for State Asthma Programs and Partners (CCAT) is a practical resource designed to promote and enhance cultural competence among our many asthma partner organizations. Based on the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Service (CLAS) Standards, the CCAT is a self-assessment tool designed to guide programs in assessing the cultural competence of their own programs. Using a flexible, team-based approach, programs use the CCAT internally, with the aim of identifying program strengths and areas for improvement in cultural competence.
The Tool for Assessing Asthma Referral Systems (TAARS) is intended for use by asthma control programs as a guide in helping to understand the how effectively their referral systems are operating within their programs. Programs can use TAARS to conduct a comprehensive or more focused assessment of their referral system.
It is possible to live well with asthma. Effective, evidence-based strategies in both the healthcare and public health sectors are available. Yet the burden of asthma remains high, and disturbing disparities persist in asthma prevalence, asthma control, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. Comprehensive asthma care across the public health and healthcare sectors is needed to allow people with asthma to have better asthma control and improved quality of life.
Moving the Needle on Asthma Control: Examining Content, Promising Practices, and Innovation
This site highlights CDC's strategy aiming to build and advance evaluation capacity among its funded asthma grantees.