Session Description: Practical qualitative evaluation methods will be shared for community health programs. The workshop will be an overview of qualitative methods that include the use of logic models, social ecology principles, participatory-based strategies, and basic data analysis methods. The session is designed to foster creativity when planning, implementing and evaluating a community-based program. Simulation activities will be used to dramatize many of the concepts.
Robert M. Goodman is a Professor and Dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University. Dr. Goodman has written extensively on issues concerning community health development, community capacity, community coalitions, evaluation methods, organizational development, and the institutionalization of health programs. He has been the principal investigator and evaluator on projects for CDC, The National Cancer Institute, The Centers for Substance Abuse Prevention, The Children’s Defense Fund, and several state health departments. In 2004, Dr. Goodman received the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Society for Public Health Education, the highest honor it bestows. Currently, Dr. Goodman is consulting on community-based public health practices and empowerment evaluation with the Diabetes Translation and Injury Prevention Branches at CDC. Also, he is leading an evaluation of community-based approaches to increasing interest in cancer clinical trials.