Program Design and Evaluation

Health advocacy issues are addressed through a myriad of avenues, typically involving some type of direct intervention. This course will provide an overview of and a critical reflection on the program design and evaluation process. Students will discuss and study elements of design and evaluation, the major theoretical and political orientations to evaluation research, and the practical, ethical, and methodological problems involved in applying research methods to understanding social change. Major topics include how to approach program conception and implementation, including developing and measuring program goals and objectives, and applying a social-justice lens to health advocacy issues, as well as to the entire continuum of program planning and evaluation. At the end of this course, students will be able to conceptually and practically understand the contours of how to thoughtfully plan, develop, and evaluate an intervention aimed at a health advocacy issue.