This study tested a 'wise' intervention (quick prompt of a specific psychological mec) in acute care hospital units to improve nurses' hand hygiene compliance (HHC). A multiple baseline design in two medical-surgical teaching hospitals in the United States. Hand hygiene data was collected using an electronic compliance monitoring system with…

Background: The dominant theoretical basis of our public health practice originates from a positivist or reductionist paradigm. It fails to take into account the complexity emerging out of public health's multiple influences originating from biological and social worlds. A deeper understanding of the interaction of elements that characterize the…

Evaluation designs for social programs are developed assuming minimal or no disruption from external shocks, such as natural disasters. This is because extremely rare shocks may not make it worthwhile to account for them in the design. Among extreme shocks is the 2010 Chile earthquake. Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), an ongoing early childhood program in…

Cross-cultural adaptation of study instruments is a difficult, time-consuming, but arguably cost-effective process. If conducted properly, it has the advantage that the translated study instruments are accurate, easy to understand, accessible, and culturally appropriate to the target audience and produce reliable and valid data. This article…

Previous research on program implementation is integrated and extended to form a participatory approach to evaluating program implementation. This method focuses on the continuous active involvement of program developers, managers, and staff in the evaluation process. The methodology is applied to an actual program to highlight the steps involved.…

A broad conceptual framework is presented as a tool to guide researchers toward identification and development of variables in policy implementation studies. Concepts for developing variables to measure the "amount" of implementation and variables to identify the aspects of policy that need to be incorporated in a study are discussed.…

Describes a method for coding themes directly from audiotapes without transcription and issues and methods by which reliability can be established. A study of concerns of professionals being trained on 11 school-based support teams coded by 2 raters and based on 19 hours of audiotaped interviews illustrates the method. (SLD)

Synthetic estimation, key informant interviews, a telephone survey of agency directors, program budget analysis, construction of a statistical index for estimating optimum allocation of resources, and a review of legislation were among the techniques used to develop a statewide comprehensive substance abuse prevention program for Rhode Island.…

This article reviews factorial surveys and highlights their utility in designing intervention programs. It then describes two instances in which factorial surveys were used to develop HIV/AIDS-related interventions. It is concluded that factorial surveys have great potential for designing intervention programs. (SLD)

Four steps to curriculum innovation are outlined: (1) identifying descriptive dimensions; (2) specifying practices implied by the innovation; (3) describing actual practices; and (4) comparing actual with intended practices across the critical dimensions of beliefs, objectives, instructional materials, and teaching strategies. (Author/CP)

Presents preliminary evaluation findings from Florida's Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program that explore the relationships between educational program quality and program characteristics. Several program characteristics are found to be related to measurements of educational program quality, including proportion of teachers who are…

A methodology is presented for collection of cost data in evaluation of community-level health interventions that coincides with the intervention implementation. The seven discrete steps of the analysis are described, and the Minimal Contact Education for Cholesterol Change study is used as an example of how the strategy is used. (SLD)

Describes two stages of the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's pre-, post-, and longitudinal evaluation research and reports on the pilot studies used to explore how to design statewide research on pre- and post-assessment scores and community reintegration outcomes. Findings suggest that higher performing programs produce greater…

Data from the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health, a school-based field trial, are used to illustrate the use of process evaluation for understanding study outcomes. Teacher characteristics and fidelity to the program model had direct and independent effects on student outcomes from the program. (SLD)

Examines the role of politics in the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's effort to use evaluation research data to inform Florida's juvenile justice education policies and practices. Two examples illustrate that by maintaining an overriding commitment to its evaluation research purpose, the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement…