HSC3061 - Health program evaluation - 2017

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Organisational Unit

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Coordinator(s)

Associate Professor Ben Smith

Unit guides

Offered

Caulfield

  • First semester 2017 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit will equip students with skills to undertake the evaluation of health promotion programs and policies using a range of methodologies. Levels of health program evaluation, including formative, process, impact, and outcome evaluation, will be examined. The range of qualitative and quantitative methods that are appropriate for different evaluation questions will be presented. An emphasis will be placed on the evaluation challenges posed by the complexities of health promotion and the contexts in which it is carried out, with case studies used to illustrate these issues. Evaluation design and data collection options to strengthen knowledge of program impact will be explored.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

  1. Distinguish between levels of evaluation in health promotion and recognise how these are linked to program plans;

  2. Identify the range of quantitative and qualitative study designs that can be employed and discuss strengths and weaknesses of these for different strategies and contexts;
  3. Identify methods to measure indicators at all levels of evaluation;
  4. Develop survey questions and interview guides that demonstrate an understanding of measurement quality;
  5. Recognise different aspects of measurement reliability and validity and how these can be evaluated;
  6. Develop a comprehensive evaluation plan.

Assessment

  • Evaluation design exercise (template provided) (10%)
  • Project evaluation plan (template provided) (40%)
  • Presentation of data collection tools (20 min oral presentation + 30 min class activities) (20%)
  • Data collection instrument (2,000 words) (30%)

Hurdle: 80% attendance at seminars.

Workload requirements

  1. 5 hour seminar, 3.5 hours of directed online student learning activities, plus 6 hours of self-directed study per week.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Prerequisites

One of the following units: HSC1061, NUT1002, BND1002, PHH1061

AND

One of the following units: HSC2051, PBH2005, HSC2101, NUT2001, BND2001, PHH2051, PHH2101.

Prohibitions

PBH3004, PHH3061