Continuous Program Evaluation is a systematic, step-by-step process where you collect information about your program in order to make decisions about ways to improve it (1). The process of a program evaluation of CHAP in your community will describe what CHAP has done.

The CHAP Working Group completed an evaluation of CHAP; "Implementing a standardized community-based cardiovascular risk assessment program in 20 Ontario communities," available on the ProCor website at www.procor.org/research/researchshow.htm?docid=1090642.

A list of activities and tools to assist with conducting a local program evaluation of your community’s CHAP sessions are provided in this section and Appendix 8. It may be helpful for the Local CHAP Coordinator to develop program evaluation objectives specific to the community.

CHAP Continuous Program Evaluation Activities

1. Volunteer Peer Health Educators complete a Volunteer Peer Health Educator Feedback Questionnaire.
2. Local Lead Organization completes a CHAP Community Report Card.
3. Participating Pharmacists complete Pharmacist Survey.
4. Share the results of the feedback questionnaire and survey with your CHAP Community Collaborative and CHAP Central.

1. Volunteer Peer Health Educator Questionnaire

The purpose of a local Volunteer Peer Health Educator evaluation is to provide volunteers with an opportunity to provide input and feedback into CHAP sessions to enhance both their experience as a volunteer and the program itself. It is recommended that volunteers complete a Volunteer Peer Health Educator Questionnaire every 6 to 12 months; and at least once per year. If the situation arises whereby there is an abrupt increase in volunteer turnover, it may be necessary to have volunteers complete the Volunteer Peer Health Educator Questionnaire more often. The Volunteer Peer Health Educator Feedback Questionnaire is found in Appendix 8.1.

2. CHAP Community Report Card

The Implementation Guide provided direction and assistance with implementing CHAP in your community. Conducting a community survey on a yearly basis will help the Local Lead Organization understand how CHAP was implemented in the community. Appendix 8.2 contains a CHAP Community Report Card template for this purpose.

3. CHAP Pharmacist Survey

Pharmacies are a primary location for CHAP sessions. It is important to obtain information about CHAP from the pharmacist’s point of view. Even if there is only one pharmacist participating in CHAP in your community, it is recommended that the CHAP Pharmacist Survey be used to obtain feedback annually. A Pharmacist Survey in available in Appendix 8.3.

4. Survey of Local Primary Care Providers including Family Physicians

Local Primary Care Providers including Physicians, Family Health Teams, Community Health Centres and Nurse Practitioners are a major building block for implementing CHAP in your community. The Local Lead Organization and CHAP can benefit from obtaining information annually from these individuals to ensure appropriate CHAP implementation. These individuals can provide valuable insight into recruiting their high risk patients to attend CHAP sessions and by receiving feedback from CHAP sessions. A Local Primary Care Provider Survey can be found in Appendix 8.4.

5. Knowledge Transfer

Continuous program evaluation is conducted to assist local communities to find ways to improve how they operate CHAP. By summarizing the different evaluation initiatives outlined above for your community will describe how CHAP is working in your community. This will also enable CHAP Central to forward your community’s successes onto other communities.

6. Additional Program Evaluation Resources

• Evaluation, 2nd Edition. (1997) Carol H. Weiss. Prentice Hall.
• Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement: An Introduction to Practice. (2006) James C. McDavid and Laura R.L. Hawthorn. Sage Publications.
• Utilization-Focused Evaluation, 4th edition. (2008) Michael Quinn Patton. Sage Publications.