Improving Effectiveness
Effectiveness is the impact of an intervention on important outcomes. This includes potential negative effects, quality of life, and costs.
- Use Evidence Based Programs
- When available use resources that are evidence based. Understand the core elements of evidence based programs such as-setting goals, identifying barriers, monitoring and documenting behavioral change-and use them as guiding tools while implementing programs or developing something new (i.e., when there is no specific evidence-based resource for your issue).
- When evidence-based resources are available, assess the resource for how well it fits in your setting and what may need to be adapted while still retaining the essential components.
- Include organizational partners
- When possible collaborate with organizations that have similar target populations and objects to help with intervention planning, development and implementation.
- Seek out other institutions that have implemented a similar program successfully or unsuccessfully in the past to get an insight into what worked and didn’t work for them.
- Assess the resources available to you.
- Prior to implementation, ensure you have sufficient resources to deliver the program.
- Integrate the program roles and responsibilities within existing staff job descriptions by engaging those who will ultimately deliver the program early in the planning process.
- Identify the skill sets of your staff and use them optimally. Provide required training, cross training, ongoing supervision, support and mentoring in areas of need.
- Develop and maintain effective documentation on program processes and tracking systems that ensure consistent delivery of the program.
- Solicit ongoing feedback from your target population.
- This can be done using paper surveys mailed out with small incentives for filling them in and mailing them back.
- Use the feedback to modify program components to accommodate the needs of your target population while adhering to the underlying evidence based principles of the program.