Section 4: Evaluate the Impact of Vision-Related Interventions
Evaluation is a powerful assessment process that can help determine whether an intervention is achieving its intended effect. It helps you assess whether your intervention strategies are producing measurable outcomes related to vision and eye health, such as improving access to and appropriate use of eye care services. The results will provide data to show what interventions are working and can help justify the need for additional resources and support.
This section of the toolkit provides information to help public health agencies and their partners plan, implement, and use comprehensive evaluation methods to monitor the outcomes associated with vision and eye health interventions. It is not intended to be a complete resource for program evaluation. Instead, it should be used in conjunction with other evaluation resources, some of which are discussed in this section.
The Importance of an Evaluation Plan
An effective evaluation starts with a thoughtful and thorough evaluation plan. The evaluation plan can serve as a road map that describes the direction your evaluation will take based on your evaluation questions and available resources. Having a written plan will promote transparency and ensure that stakeholders have the same expectations about the purpose of the evaluation, how the data will be used, and with whom the results will be shared.
An Evaluation Plan Will Help You:
- Document each step of the evaluation process.
- Identify the activities needed to achieve the desired outcomes.
- Establish measures and indicators.
- Decide the types of data to be collected during the intervention.
- Identify data collection methods and who will take responsibility for each step during data collection.
- Identify the resources needed to conduct the evaluation.
- Establish a reasonable and realistic timeline for the evaluation.
Things to Consider Before Starting an Evaluation
- Explore available evaluation resources. Many resources are available to help you plan and conduct an evaluation that will meet your needs without consuming a disproportionate amount of your time or resources. See the end of this section of the toolkit for a list of suggested resources.
- Develop an evaluation plan early in the process. The earlier you develop your evaluation plan, the more time you have to monitor and evaluate the effect of your intervention. Start thinking about your evaluation plan while you are designing your intervention so it can be done before you implement your intervention.
- Consider the resources needed for the evaluation. Before making key decisions about the scope of the evaluation and the methods you will use to conduct it, identify the resources you will need and determine which resources are currently available.
Download the Evaluation Plan Checklist [PDF – 133 KB]
Additional Pages In This Section
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Framework for program evaluation in public health. MMWR Recomm Rep. 1999;48(RR-11):1–58.
- Fetterman DM, Kaftarian SJ, Wandersman A, eds. Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools for Self- Assessment, Evaluation Capacity Building, and Accountability. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2015.
- Patton MQ. Utilization-Focused Evaluation: The New Century Text. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 1997.
- Sapru S, Berktold J, Crews J E, et al. Applying RE-AIM to evaluate two community-based programs designed to improve access to eye care for those at high-risk for glaucoma. Eval Program Plann. 2017;65:40–46.