The Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention utilizes evaluation to build practice based evidence when expanding into new areas of program planning and policy development. The presenters will describe how a portfolio of evaluation approaches can be used to build practice based evidence. DHDSP uses evaluation tools (e.g., logic models) and methods (e.g., case study, benchmarking, surveys) to inform future public health policies in the area of sodium reduction. DHDSP presenters will share how evaluators and policy staff work together with internal and external stakeholders to enhance evaluation planning. This session will demonstrate the critical role evaluation plays to inform public health policy at the national level. #2011Conference #HealthEvaluation