How To Do It

Decide on and convene key stakeholders to determine what types of information they need from the evaluation, when they need the information, and in what format. CDC has published Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health, a document that helps programs plan and implement evaluations (To view the complete Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health, see (http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr4811a1.htm, September 17, 1999/ 48(RR11);1-40, MMWR) ). A section of this report describes three groups of stakeholders that should be involved in your program evaluation:

• those involved in program operations (e.g., sponsors, collaborators, coalition partners, funding officials, administrators, managers, and staff);
• those affected by the public health emergency (e.g., people directly affected by the event, such as responders, family members, and the local media; the public outside of the crisis, including elected officials, partners and stakeholders, the national media and international audiences; and skeptics and opponents; and
• primary users of the evaluation. Primary users of the evaluation are the specific persons who are in a position to do or decide something regarding the program. In practice, primary users will be a subset of all stakeholders identified. A successful evaluation will designate primary users early in its development and maintain frequent interaction with them so that the evaluation addresses their values and satisfies their unique information needs.

Stakeholder questions can be solicited and organized around the essential purposes or goals of the evaluation. Most evaluations of emergency health communication seek to determine the success of specific program components as illustrated in these questions:

• Were the communication activities developed as planned?
• Are the communication inputs consistent with desired standards?
• Were the communication activities implemented/executed as expected?
• Were the intended audiences reached and did they attend to and understand the messages?
• Were the desired immediate, intermediate, and ultimate effects achieved?
• Can the observed effects be attributed to the communication and, if so, to pre-specified components of the methods, materials, messages, or activities?
• Is the internal logic of the communication activities and their relationship to desired effects valid?
• Were the resources expended on the activities relatively greater, equal to, or less than necessary to effectively implement communications activities?

Affirmative responses to these questions can be considered to be outcome goals relating to the eight types of evaluation presented in CDCynergy. These types of evaluation can be carried out either before the communication activities are fully implemented (the formative phase of evaluation) or after full implementation (the summative evaluation phase). The eight types of evaluation included in CDCynergy are described below: