What to know
The six modules in the guide provide an overview of the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health (MMWR, 1999) as applied to various aspects of asthma programs. Learning and Growing is an evaluation guide for public health departments that are receiving CDC funding for asthma programs.
Overview
CDC's National Asthma Control Program and asthma programs across the country are mobilizing resources to reduce the burden of asthma in communities. For more than a decade, asthma programs in public health departments and groups that focus on improving asthma management practices have used the Learning and Growing guide to develop and deploy their evaluation capacity. Sound evaluation practices can help ensure that we use programmatic resources effectively, efficiently, and in service of health equity; that we have a means of demonstrating the value of our programs; and that we are developing a body of knowledge that tells us what works. The 2021 guide shares new research, insights, and content in all six modules. The guide will be useful to novice and skilled evaluators and to other asthma program staff and stakeholders.
Module 1 covers the evaluation planning process and provides plan templates. The strategic evaluation plan describes the rationale, general content, scope, and sequence of evaluations a program will conduct during the cooperative agreement. The individual evaluation plan describes the overall approach or design that guides an evaluation.
Module 2 provides guidance, tips, and tools for implementing evaluations.
Modules 3, 4, and 5 apply these tools to the evaluation of asthma program partnerships, surveillance efforts, and interventions.
Finally, Module 6 brings together CDC's evaluation framework and approaches used in economic evaluation; it includes intuitive, easy-to-follow examples and worksheets.